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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. Where does Mattie say that Rooster Cogburn has gone when she speaks with Ranger LaBoeuf at the boarding house in Chapter 4?

2. Mattie is surprised to discover that the Indian wife of the storekeeper in Chapter 6 is of what religion?

3. What does Colonel Stonehill refer to Arkansas as in Chapter 5?

4. According to Ranger LaBoeuf’s papers in Chapter 4, he works out of a place called Ysleta outside of what Texas city?

5. As he dies, one of the thieves tells Rooster in Chapter 6 that Ned and his gang are planning to rob whom tonight?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Mrs. Floyd treat Mattie when she becomes sick in Chapter 4?

2. What does Rooster do to the boys and mule when Mattie, LaBoeuf, and Rooster arrive at the store in Chapter 6?

3. What opinions does Mattie assert regarding prohibition in Chapter 4?

4. How does Mattie describe the pony she picks out to purchase at Stonehill’s barn in Chapter 5? What does she remark about his legs?

5. What book does Mattie describe reading to Grandma Turner while she’s sick in Chapter 4?

6. What obstacles does the snow present as Mattie, Rooster, and LaBoeuf travel in Chapter 6?

7. What information does LaBoeuf relate to Mattie about Tom Chaney’s history in Chapter 4?

8. What is Mattie’s reply when LaBoeuf asks her who she has hired to hunt down Tom Chaney in Chapter 4?

9. What news of Lucky Ned’s gang has Rooster Cogburn learned from Bagby in Chapter 6?

10. What are the boys doing outside the store when Mattie, LaBoeuf, and Rooster arrive in the beginning of Chapter 6?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 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

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?

(see the answer keys)

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