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. How much money does Colonel Stonehill agree to give Mattie after haggling with her in Chapter 3?

2. Where does Mattie tell Rooster Cogburn her mother’s family lives in Chapter 3?

3. How much does Mattie pay to stay at the Monarch boarding house per night in Chapter 2?

4. In his court testimony in Chapter 3, Rooster Cogburn states that who was killed?

5. Mattie describes a noisy boy going through the crowd at the hanging and selling what?

Short Essay Questions

1. How are the prisoners described that are to be hung in Chapter 2?

2. What leads to Mattie’s disappointment when she speaks with the deputy marshal at the Federal Courthouse in Chapter 3?

3. How does Mattie describe the career of Judge Isaac Parker in Chapter 3?

4. How does Mattie describe the setting of the hanging in Chapter 2?

5. What are the last words of the first man executed in Chapter 2?

6. How is Yarnell Poindexter described in the novel? Why does he accompany Mattie in Chapter 1?

7. How is the narrative of True Grit related? Is the story told in first, second or third person? In what tense is the story told?

8. How is Judge Isaac Parker’s appearance and demeanor described when he enters in Chapter 3?

9. How was Mattie Ross’s father killed in the narrative? Where was he killed?

10. How much does Mattie pay for the embalming and coffin for her father? Why does this distress Yarnell?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the racial relations in the United States following the Civil War. How are these race relations illustrated in True Grit? How does Mattie’s relationship with and behavior toward Yarnell Poindexter differ from how he is treated by other white characters in the narrative?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the history of the Texas Ranger Division. What role did the Texas Rangers play in the American Civil War? Why have so many works of literature and film revolved around Texas Rangers? What impressions does Mattie have of LaBoeuf’s fancy “getup”?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze and discuss the character of Rooster Cogburn in True Grit. How old is Rooster? What does Mattie remark about Rooster’s eye? What personality traits does Rooster exhibit? How does Rooster stand out amongst the other characters in the story?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 891 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample