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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 kind of return does the auctioneer promise on the investment of Ballard's property?

2. What do the Dumpkeeper and Lester Ballard drink together?

3. What target does Ballard shoot at the fair's shooting gallery?

4. Whose house is auctioned at the beginning of the novel?

5. According to CB, what might not be worth fifty cents in a year?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the disfigured child do to Ballard's gift?

2. What do the Dumpkeeper and Ballard do on their days together?

3. What deal does Lester Ballard try to broker with Fred Kirby?

4. Explain how the boy that came through town could always shoot birds in the air.

5. What statement does the Sheriff make to Ballard after he is released?

6. Describe the scene created by McCarthy at the beginning of the novel.

7. What news does Darfuzzle give Ballard?

8. What happened to Lester Ballard's parents?

9. Why does Ballard abruptly leave the Dumpkeeper's house in Chapter 16?

10. Why is Lester Ballard ejected from his first game at the carnival?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Child of God is essentially a chronicle of Lester Ballard's descent into unbridled madness, stemming from his need for human contact. Write about the stages of his degeneration and what they say about him as person:

Part 1) Ballard's run-in with the Sleeping Woman on Frog Mountain is his first instance of violence against a woman. What transpires between Ballard and the woman? How does this reflect an essential desire within him?

Part 2) How do Ballard's numerous returns to the idling car with the dead couple illustrate a decision on his part? What does he decide? What has he realized about himself?

Part 3) Examine Ballard's interchange with Ralph's daughter, culminating in his murdering her. How does this episode illustrate his discomfort with human interaction and the breaking down of inhibitions to his violent sexual appetites?

Essay Topic 2

Cormac McCarthy is widely renowned for his evocative descriptions of the power of nature. His work seems to invoke a cruel God that allows human beings to hurt each other and then punishes them with the elements. Write an essay about two of the major natural events in the novel and how they coincide with the personal evil of Lester Ballard:

Part 1) How does the fire in Ballard's shack reflect the destruction of his soul within the context of his personal actions? Examine this event and the events surrounding it.

Part 2) How does the flood and torrential rain coincide with Ballard's complete degeneration into madness? Describe both the effects of the flood and the personal toll it takes on Ballard.

Essay Topic 3

Choose one of the following to write an essay:

1.) Near the beginning of the novel, Ballard has an exchange with the Dumpkeeper's blonde daughter. He is infatuated with the girl, and she teases him incessantly. How does this coquettish girl typify Ballard's understanding of woman? What is her essential allure and danger? How does Ballard respond to it?

2.) Compare the dead girl in the car with Ralph's daughter, from Ballard's point-of-view. How do they reveal, respectively, what he wants from a companion and what he can never understand? Chart his interaction with both as indicative of this desire.

3.) Analyze the state that Ballard is in as he lives in the caves. Why do you think he collect so many women and takes to wearing their clothes and hair? What essential desire has he achieved and how has he done it?

(see the answer keys)

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