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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. Which of the following is not something Ballard salvages from the fire?

2. What color dress does Ballard buy?

3. Which of the following is not among the items that Ballard purchases at the grocer's?

4. According to Fate, how long does it take a hanged man to die?

5. What does Ballard do with the girl's body at the end of Chapter 27 (pp. 93-95)?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Ballard react to Ralph's daughter's rejection of his advances?

2. Why does Ballard return several times to the idling car?

3. What crime problem is the Sheriff facing in this section?

4. What does Ballard find in the running car on the side of the road?

5. Describe the inside of Ballard's cave.

6. How do the police catch Kirby selling jars of whiskey?

7. Describe the story Fate tells about the 1899 hanging.

8. What imaginary conversations does Ballard have in the woods?

9. What does Ballard realize about the Ralph's idiot baby?

10. Describe Ballard's appearance at the end of this section.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In what way does Lester Ballard's interactions with the Sleeping Woman on Frog Mountain codify his attitude toward women and his desire to have them in a lifeless state. In the essay, compare and contrast his interaction with her to his interaction with Ralph's daughter. Also compare his defense to the police with her to his defense to the posse at the end of the novel. Pay attention to the terms he uses to describe her.

Essay Topic 2

Many critics have charged McCarthy's writing with being nihilistic, beautiful, but ultimately meaningless. They argue that his work evocatively explored man's inclination to destroy, but it takes no sides. Write an essay either in agreement or refutation of this. Use specific examples from Child of God to argue either that McCarthy takes a position on Ballard's actions or that he simply relates the horrific.

Essay Topic 3

Lester Ballard's interaction with animals is in many ways a reflection of his interaction with human beings. Write an essay about his individual meetings with animals and how they coincide with later meetings with people (his trailing his gun on a cat as he does Greer, his accidentally killing the cow as he thoughtlessly assaults the Sleeping Woman). From these individual meetings, develop a thesis about his development - or lack thereof - of relationships.

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