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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 is Captain Kidd overwhelmed with, when he watches Johanna trying to eat with a fork?

2. What color ascot does Captain Kidd wear with his reading suit?

3. What is it that Captain Kidd is drawn to about Mrs. Gannet?

4. What does Johanna feel her clothes were designed to do?

5. What does Captain Kidd end his readings in Chapter 7 with?

Short Essay Questions

1. What arrangements is Captain Kidd making in his letter to his daughters?

2. How is Johanna saved from being left with Simon and Miss Dillon?

3. What was it that made Captain Kidd want to be a news reader?

4. How did Britt Johnson come to be responsible for Johanna?

5. How does Johanna fare once Captain Kidd starts teaching her English?

6. What is it that gets a reaction out of Johanna in Chapter 4?

7. What kind of impression does Johanna’s appearance makes on Captain Kidd?

8. What arrangements does Captain Kidd for Johanna make when he arrives in Dallas?

9. What is Captain Kidd’s approach to reading local news?

10. How does Mrs. Gannet fare, taking care of Johanna in the hotel room?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In what ways is News of the World relevant to contemporary readers? What contemporary issues are in play in the book, and how would the book contribute to contemporary discussion? Cite specific discussions from contemporary sources, and cite specific instances from the book, that describe its contemporary relevance.

Essay Topic 2

What is missing from this book? What should have been covered or presented that was not? What is the effect of this absence? Describe an element that ought to have been covered, and explain why it would have made the book stronger.

Essay Topic 3

Time and again, Captain Kidd says that he just delivers the news, without knowing what he is delivering, although he also develops a strong bond with Johanna, which is centered on an unarticulated sympathy, affection and understanding between them. Are we, then, meant to take the final line of the novel, “He had a message to deliver, contents unknown” (209) as a summary of the book’s meaning—or is News of the World really a prescription for how to care for people, how to protect yourself and your people, and how to fill your life with the explicit meaning that comes from such acts?

(see the answer keys)

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