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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. What does Captain Kidd feel compelled to do, when Almay offers him money for Johanna?

2. What kind of gun is Captain Kidd armed with while he reads in Chapter 1?

3. When was Captain Kidd born?

4. Where are Captain Kidd’s daughters, as he writes to them from the Dallas hotel?

5. What is Captain Kidd thinking about as he and Almay negotiate about Johanna?

Short Essay Questions

1. What Jefferson Kidd’s experience at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend?

2. What arrangements is Captain Kidd making in his letter to his daughters?

3. Why is Britt Johnson hesitant to take Johanna to San Antonio himself?

4. How does Mrs. Gannet fare, taking care of Johanna in the hotel room?

5. Who are Simon and Doris, and how do they help Captain Kidd with Johanna?

6. How does Johanna handle her first introduction to the hotel in Dallas?

7. What kind of wagon does Captain Kidd buy, to take Johanna back to Castroville in?

8. What is Captain Kidd’s approach to reading local news?

9. Why is Johanna nervous when they encounter the army on the road in Chapter 5, and how does Captain Kidd take care of her?

10. How does Johanna fare once Captain Kidd starts teaching her English?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the history of the American frontier, it was not so common for captives to be returned from the Native American tribes to the towns. It was much more common for whites to take Native Americans from their families and install them in residential schools where they were forced to forget their Native culture and language. How does Jiles’ novel act as a kind of connection with, and apology for, this other history, which is only touched tangentially? What emotions does Johanna’s story evoke, that are also connected to that other story?

Essay Topic 2

For Captain Kidd, the frontier is the outer edge of civilization, but from San Antonio and Houston, the modern world was much closer by. What changes were taking place in the outer borders of Captain Kidd’s world, and how would those changes affect life in the towns and cities where News of the World takes place? What were the dominant tensions in that modern world, and how do you think the main characters would adapt to those new tensions?

Essay Topic 3

Research the history of returned captives in the American frontier, from Massachusetts and Maine to the west. What are the biggest difficulties returned captives encounter, and how does Jiles represent that experience in News of the World? Does she paint a fair portrait of this difficult transition?

(see the answer keys)

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