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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 Ballard shoot the girl in Chapter 43 (pp. 149-153)?

2. Into what other county does Ballard cross at the beginning of this section?

3. How much money does Ballard eventually get for all of his watches?

4. What does Ballard blame for the burning down of his house?

5. How many wrist watches is Ballard trying to sell?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Where does Ballard settle at the end of Chapter 30 (pp. 106-108)?

3. Describe Ballard's second interview by the police.

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

5. How does Ballard subsist as the harsh winter descends?

6. What wakes Lester Ballard the night after his shopping spree in town?

7. In what state is the town in this section?

8. What happens to Ballard when he tries to cross the creek?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Certain chapters of the novel are told from a first-person point-of-view and involve Sevier residents attempting to explain Ballard's past. Write an essay charting Ballard's transition form victim to bully to societal tumor, framing it in discussion of the following chapters:

Part 1) The man who discusses Ballard's loss of his mother and father.

Part 2) The man who tells the story of Ballard as a child bully.

Part 3) The man who talks about Ballard's younger jobs.

Essay Topic 2

The conflict between Ballard and society in the novel is reflected in many respects by a conflict between Sevier County and the wild Frog Mountain. Write an essay detailing this conflict between wilderness and town. Who is associated with either side of the conflict? What occurs in each? How is each described by the author?

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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