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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. Yarnell Poindexter is described as a freeborn black man from where?

2. What is Mattie served for breakfast by Mrs. Floyd in the beginning of Chapter 3?

3. Mattie tells Colonel Stonehill in Chapter 3 that her family sold their early cotton in Little Rock to whom?

4. Mattie describes the undertaker that she and Yarnell go to see about her father’s body as being what in Chapter 2?

5. How much money does Mattie take with her when she and Yarnell go to see about her father’s body in Chapter 2?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Mattie say in regards to the innocence or evil of animals in Chapter 3?

2. How does Mattie describe Stonehill’s stock barn in Chapter 3?

3. What was stolen from Mattie Ross’s father when he was killed?

4. How does Mattie describe the scene when she arrives at the Federal Courthouse to seek out Rooster Cogburn in Chapter 3? Who is being brought in?

5. Who is the executioner in Chapter 2? How is this character described?

6. How does Mattie Ross describe Tom Chaney in Chapter 1?

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

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

9. What is revealed of Rooster Cogburn during the trial in Chapter 3?

10. What is the principle setting of the story? Where does Mattie’s family live?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the Harrison Narcotics Law and the Volstead Act. Mattie Ross praises both of these laws in Chapter 4. When were they both enacted? What did the laws entail? What politicians does Mattie Ross discuss in regard to prohibition in Chapter 4? What role did these individuals play historically in prohibition?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the real-life figure of Judge Isaac Parker. For how many years was Parker a Federal Judge? By what nickname was Parker known at this time? How many executions did Judge Parker order? What does Judge Parker represent to Mattie in the story? What are Mattie’s feelings about Parker’s system of justice?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and analyze the character of Ranger LaBoeuf in True Grit. What does LaBoeuf tell Mattie he wants to do about the criminal Tom Chaney? How long has LaBoeuf been following the murderer? Why does Mattie not want any involvement with LaBoeuf in tracking down the murderer?

(see the answer keys)

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