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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 is Mattie’s sister’s name in the novel?

2. Mattie says in Chapter 3, “You must pay for everything in this world one way and another. There is nothing free except” what?

3. Approximately how much is the charge for embalming and the coffin for Mattie’s father in Chapter 2?

4. Who does Mattie share a room with at the Monarch boarding house in Chapter 2?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Mattie and Yarnell travel to Fort Smith in Chapter 2? How is the journey described?

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

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

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

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

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

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

8. How does Mattie describe the city of Fort Smith upon her arrival in Chapter 2?

9. 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?

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

Discuss the characters of Bagby, his wife, and the two teenagers at the store in Chapter 6. What does Mattie remark about the religion of the Indian wife? How does this encounter change Mattie’s views of the Indians? How does this setting differ from that of Fort Worth or Mattie’s homestead? What are her impressions of this place?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Mattie Ross’s depiction of Tom Chaney in True Grit. How does Mattie describe Chaney’s appearance? What does she say of his background? What feelings does Mattie express for the man who murdered her father? How does the “reality” of Tom Chaney compare to Mattie’s descriptions of him?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss Rooster Cogburn’s statements on the stand regarding the Wharton trial. Why does Cogburn say he killed the other Whartons? Do you think his actions were justified? Why or why not?

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