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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. Who else does Jake visit in the Memphis hospital?

2. Where does Judge Noose advise the jurors they will be sequestered?

3. What questions does Jake ask of Cobb's and Willard's respective mothers during cross-examination?

4. Who is the first victim to fall in the riot at the courthouse?

5. Following Jake's closing before the jury, he and Lucien are drinking on Lucien's front porch where Deputy Nesbit helps himself to what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are some of the changes in perspective the Carl Lee Hailey trial has had on Jake?

2. How are the twelve jurors and two alternates sequestered?

3. Why is Lucien able to draw thousands of black residents from northern Mississippi to Clanton to demonstrate on behalf of Carl Lee?

4. How is Jake's closing argument indicative of it being his finest hour?

5. Beyond the cost of a human life and loss for loved ones and associates, what are some of the significant ramifications of Tim Nunley's death?

6. Why is Jake essentially lost in court the day he returned after being shot at?

7. Shortly after midnight, following the riot in the courthouse square, what do five teams of the KKK do?

8. How does Grisham depict Jake's response to the soldier who is seriously injured for protecting him?

9. What transpires when Clyde Acker walks for a cola at the Temple Inn?

10. What transpires when Jake requests a change of venue in chambers on Monday, the first day of court?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare the way Ozzie Walls performed his duties responsible for the Ford County Sheriff's Department with the manner in which the colonel in charge of the National Guard unit executed his. Consider the number of members and equipment available to each. Address options likely in security of housing and transporting only 14 jury members and the Hailey defense team. Also address lapses in security both within the courthouse and the area outside. What measures should have been taken considering the verdict might have been guilty? Why were potential targets repeatedly exposed? What were the measures taken by Ozzie Walls prior to arrival of National Guard? Who did Barry Acker rely on more?

Essay Topic 2

Carl Lee Hailey clearly murdered two men who gang raped his ten-year-old daughter. While he did so in retaliation, it was not in the heat of the moment, but the result of well-planned and orchestrated maneuvering. Why don't Jake and Sheriff Ozzie Walls make make an effort to stop it before it will happen? Why is Deputy Looney, who Carl Lee shoots accidentally in the leg and which is amputated, able to forgive him, much less defend him in court? Why do Klansman in Nettles County believe the victims of the murder got what they deserved, but only retaliate given the racial differences? Explain why Carl Lee is treated and viewed with respect by the deputies, but feared by the other prisoners in the jail? Why does the jury find Carl Lee "not guilty by reason of insanity" when he was not? In delving deeper into these questions, what is the overall theme of the novel?

Essay Topic 3

What type of home do Jake Brigance and his family reside in? Why is it unique? How is Jake able to afford it, given that he also drives a Saab, the only one in the county? Why did Jake select this home? Consider these questions to examine Jake's character.

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