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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who decides not to visit the prostitutes after all?

2. What does Clara do to help July make up his mind?

3. Where does Gus take Lorena?

4. What does Lorena fear about Gus?

5. How far does Call travel to find water in Wyoming?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Po Campo not as excited about reaching Ogallala as the rest of the crew?

2. Deets tells Gus and Call that the tracks leading away from the fight with Wilbarger include Jake's horse. What does Gus say?

3. What does Old Hugh do for the ranch?

4. What does Deets find on the Arkansas River?

5. What does Sally think of Jake when she hears the rumors?

6. What does Call do for Deets that surprises everyone?

7. Why does Gus not go after Blue Duck?

8. What happens between Dish and Dixon?

9. Why does Call tell the men not to leave, once they found a place for the ranch headquarters?

10. Why does July feel guilty?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Call and Gus feel that they must hang Jake, even though he is their friend, because he is riding with murderers and horse thieves. Jake feels he is innocent because he has not killed anyone or personally taken horses. However, he does not put up a fight and dies an honorable death.

Part 1) Is Jake guilty as a murderer and horse thief? If not, what crime has he committed? Are his crimes worthy of hanging?

Part 2) How does Jake feel about his sentence? Use examples from the novel to support your answer.

Part 3) How does Call feel about hanging Jake? In what ways does he show he might regret it? How does Gus feel about hanging Jake? Does he have any regrets? How does he handle them? Are Gus and Call influenced by other events in the novel in carrying out Jake's sentence?

Essay Topic 2

Newt is a character on the edge of adulthood. Write an essay about Newt's transition to adulthood.

Part 1) What are the rites of passage that define him?

Part 2) What kind of adult does Newt want to become?

Part 3) Who are Newt's role models? Why does he look up to those role models? Use examples from the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Being racist is to judge a person based on his or her race instead of the person as an individual. Write an essay addressing any racism in Lonesome Dove.

Part 1) Are the Hat Creek men racist toward Mexicans? Include examples from the novel explaining your answer.

Part 2) Are the Hat Creek men racist toward Indians? Include examples from the novel explaining your answer.

Part 3) Do the Hat Creek men discriminate against any other groups? If so, what groups? How do they discriminate? If not, show examples of the men treating other groups as equals.

(see the answer keys)

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