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. Where do Judge Holden and his men ride?

2. With which of the following is the Kid not provided?

3. For what does the gang receive money?

4. What is the gang crossing when they stop?

5. Who cares for the Kid's wounds?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the Judge do with the dead Indian?

2. What does the company find at the hut?

3. How do the cattlemen help out the Kid?

4. How does the Kid find his donkey again?

5. What problems does the company face from the very beginning?

6. What is the business of the Glanton gang?

7. What does the bald man say is wrong with the preacher?

8. What horrors do Sproule and the Kid see on their walk?

9. Describe the Kentuckian soldier.

10. How does the Kid get the whiskey?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Look at the structure of the novel.

1) How does McCarthy use character and dialogue to drive the narrative.

2) Discuss elements of the narrative structure: Exposition, conflict, complication, climax, resolution and conclusion. Do all the elements make for a logical and linear story? How does the story's structure express the novel's themes?

3) Away from the main character, examine the way McCarthy uses the other characters in the story. When does he introduce and take them away from the story? What effect does it have on the story?

Essay Topic 2

The novel is set mostly in Texas.

1) What meaning does Texas bring to the novel? What would you automatically presume about a novel that was set in Texas?

2) How different do you think today's Texas is to the Texas in the novel? How do you think the novel's meaning would change if it were set in today's Texas?

3) How do you think the Texas settings of the novel contribute to the novel's violent tone?

Essay Topic 3

Examine the representation of Indians in the novel.

1) What Indian tribes are represented in the book. What are the histories of these tribes and in what way were they involved with the Mexican War.

2) Compare a historical account of an Indian tribe in the book with McCarthy's representations. Does he have a certain aim in mind for presenting the Indians as he or does he just want to represent it how it really was?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 873 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample