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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. According to the austere law books in regards to a murder trial, you do not need a body if __________.

2. The narrator states that _________ became the Will of God to Tommy Ward.

3. Harvey Pratt is a cop by day and a __________ by night.

4. What do the OSBI technicians use to sift through debris from the burned down house?

5. Who receives a threatening phone call saying "he needs to stop defending Ward-or else!"?

Short Essay Questions

1. Discuss the spectators who watch the trials going on in the courthouse, as described by the narrator in Chapter 7.

2. Why does Tricia Wolf punch Bud Wolf in the shoulder while reading the newspaper at the end of Chapter 5?

3. How did Tricia Ward meet Bud Wolf?

4. Describe the dream Arlene Cameron has in Chapter 5.

5. Why are both Ward and Fontenot admitted to Eastern State Hospital?

6. Why do many residents in Ada have police scanners in their homes?

7. Describe the city of Ada as it is described in Chapter 1.

8. Who is in the small courtroom at the opposite end of the hallway in the beginning of Chapter 8? Why are they in the courtroom?

9. What two things are District Attorney Bill Peterson trying to establish through the four young witnesses who are a part of Ada's "running crowd"?

10. What connection does District Attorney Bill Peterson make between his father's death and the Haraway case?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain how the disappearance in Chapter 1 reflects the central conflict in the novel and the difficulties that lie ahead.

Essay Topic 2

Why do both Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot confess to the murder of Denice Haraway? How do these confessions impact Ward's and Fontenot's futures, including their credibility or reliability?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the mistakes of the Ada police department in the Denice Haraway case. How could these mistakes have been avoided? How did these mistakes destroy the future of both Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot?

(see the answer keys)

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