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. Who guards Captain Kidd and Johanna through the night outside of Lampasas?

2. What does Captain Kidd think Merrit Horrell’s hair looks like it has been combed with?

3. What does Captain Kidd look for in the tight spirals of buzzards?

4. What is Captain Kidd thinking when he heads up to Carlyle Springs?

5. What is the best word to describe the act Adolph performs by saying that Captain Kidd cannot leave Johanna with her aunt and uncle?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who are the four men Captain Kidd and Johanna meet on the road to Lampasas, and what warning do they give Captain Kidd and Johanna?

2. Where does Captain Kidd take shelter in his flight from Almay?

3. How do Captain Kidd and Johanna celebrate their victory over Almay and the Caddos?

4. What danger do Captain Kidd and Johanna face in the hill country south of Lampasas?

5. What kind of appearance do the Horrell brothers make before Captain Kidd and Johanna?

6. How does the Curative Waters wagon’s tire become a symbol for Johanna’s arrival with her family, and departure from Captain Kidd’s life?

7. How does Captain Kidd justify his refusal to read local news from Daily State Journal?

8. How does the novel speed up after the fight in Durand?

9. What is the conversation that passes between Captain Kidd and Johanna on Johanna’s wedding day?

10. What uproar does Johanna cause near the river with the stave mill, and how does she react when the uproar is settled?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When is News of the World most itself? What is its characteristic passage, or moment? What makes that moment or passage the most representative of the book as a whole? Are there any places where the book seems to depart from its typical self, as if to become a different book?

Essay Topic 2

Would you recommend News of the World? For what purposes would you recommend News of the World, and what kinds of readers would you recommend it for? What other book would you recommend that would cover the same material or tell the same story in a different way?

Essay Topic 3

In 1870, a dime got you an hour’s live entertainment, and $50 paid for a wagon and finances months on the road. How has the value of money changed in the years since 1870? How much would those things cost today, and how has the importance of money changed? How have common people or even slightly-wealthy people like Captain Kidd and his family been affected by changes in inflation and in the dominant monetary policies that have guided the growth of Captain Kidd’s economy in News of the World to our economy today?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,247 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample