View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Uncle Ather tells the boys about a time when he caught a _______________.

2. Where does the large cat find refuge from the rain?

3. What does John Wesley say about Sylder?

4. What dead animal does the large cat find?

5. What offense was John Wesley told he had committed?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who are the boys that John Wesley meets and what do they do?

2. Why can the authorities not be absolutely certain that the corpse is that of Kenneth Rattner and what do they tell Rattner's widow?

3. What emotions does the orchard keeper have when he finds the peach pit smoldering?

4. In addition to his traps, what does Warn point out to the other boys?

5. How else might the irony of Sylder and John Wesley's friendship be interpreted?

6. What is the significance of cats in the story?

7. How is the dead cat symbolic of Kenneth Rattner?

8. What does the orchard keeper do on a snowy morning involving the peach pit?

9. Why does Gifford focus his question about Ownby on a storekeep named Huffaker?

10. Who is Arthur Ownby and what is he doing as this chapter begins?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The author uses more than one iteration on the theme of resistance to government intervention. Identify at least two examples about resistance to government intervention in the book. Then explain how each example supports the theme of resistance to government intervention.

Essay Topic 2

The author uses more than one iteration on the theme of loss. Identify at least two examples about loss in the book and then explain why the examples support the theme.

Essay Topic 3

Explain McCarthy's use of regionalism in the book. Cite examples of at least two different instances of regionalism and explain why the author used them where he did.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,130 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample