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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. How does Almay refer to the bird shot Captain Kidd shoots at him?

2. How much does Captain Kidd offer to park his wagon, and how much does he end up paying?

3. What is Captain Kidd’s plan if they were victim to raiders?

4. Who were the “two major combatants” in the fight that breaks out during Captain Kidd’s Durand reading?

5. How many men have brought guns to the Captain’s news reading in Durand?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Captain Kidd nervous about now that the Almay and the Caddos have been defeated?

2. How does Captain Kidd reunite with Johanna, and how does she leave Anna and Wilhelm?

3. How do Wilhelm and Anna expect to bring Johanna back into the routine of civilized life?

4. What is the conversation that passes between Captain Kidd and Johanna on Johanna’s wedding day?

5. How does the narrator explain Johanna’s way of valuing things?

6. Who are the four men Captain Kidd and Johanna meet on the road to Lampasas, and what warning do they give Captain Kidd and Johanna?

7. How is Captain Kidd injured in his fight with Almay and Caddos, and how does his injury affect him?

8. After the battle with Almay and the Caddos, what does Captain Kidd tell himself the meaning of life is?

9. What does Captain Kidd do now that he has returned Johanna to her family?

10. Why is Captain Kidd cautious about reading from the Inquirer?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Paulette Jiles spends a good deal of time describing the details of people’s armament, distinguishing between types of rifles and handguns. Why are these details of manufacture important to the characters, and how does Jiles’ close descriptions of them affect the mood and tone of the narrative? What else does Jiles describe with similar attention to details of manufacture, and how do those descriptions affect the tone of the narrative?

Essay Topic 2

Identify the most important plot points in News of the World. What is at stake in each of these moments? What possibilities do these moments present, and how are those possibilities channeled into specific actions or events? How does the plot chart its course among other alternative or possible plots?

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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