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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 buy from Thurber, in addition to the newspapers?

2. What ordeal does Doris say Johanna has been through?

3. What does Captain Kidd own that is banned in Texas?

4. Where does Captain Kidd hide his .38 cartridges?

5. What does the Captain say he was nervous about, for the first two days with Johanna?

Short Essay Questions

1. What kind of impression does Johanna’s appearance makes on Captain Kidd?

2. Who is Almay and what proposition does he make to Captain Kidd?

3. Why does Captain Kidd show Johanna the weapons he carries, and what is her response?

4. What does Captain Kidd like about the message corps?

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

6. What is it that gets a reaction out of Johanna in Chapter 4?

7. How does Captain Kidd get Johanna out of her Kiowa dress and into western clothes?

8. Where does Johanna run off to in Chapter 7, and how does Captain Kidd get her back?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Evaluate the ending of News of the World. Does it ring true to you? Does it successfully resolve the problems and tensions that preceded it? What would you change, if anything? What are you left wishing for closure on, if anything?

Essay Topic 2

The frontier has always been attractive to Americans as a place where each person gets to make their own law, and there is not a single law or cultural authority. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the lawlessness of the frontier in News of the World? Who benefits by it, and who loses? What will it take for the frontier culture to transition to the culture Captain Kidd cites from Hammurabi, where the law is the same for king and peasant alike?

Essay Topic 3

Where is the climax of this book? Are there different climaxes? What questions does each climax resolve? What questions does each climax leave unanswered? How does the book regulate the tension between tense periods and climaxes?

(see the answer keys)

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