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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 Quincy claim they got the horses in Chapter 6 when questioned about them by Rooster?

2. What does Rooster Cogburn do to the boys that were taunting the mule in Chapter 6?

3. What does Rooster Cogburn have for a ground sheet when they make camp in Chapter 6?

4. Mattie is surprised to discover that the Indian wife of the storekeeper in Chapter 6 is of what religion?

5. Ranger LaBoeuf is looking for Tom Chaney because he killed a senator in Texas named what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What reasons does Rooster Cogburn give Mattie for why she cannot accompany him on his mission in Chapter 5?

2. What does Quincy do when Moon begins to break and tell what he knows in Chapter 6? What ensues?

3. How is the photograph described that LaBoeuf shows to Mattie in Chapter 4? How does she respond?

4. What concerns does LaBoeuf voice about the campfire when the group first stops for the night in Chapter 6?

5. What is Rooster Cogburn’s response when Mattie asks him if he thinks President Hayes will commute Odus Wharton’s sentence in Chapter 5?

6. What is Mattie’s reply when LaBoeuf asks her who she has hired to hunt down Tom Chaney in Chapter 4?

7. What news of Lucky Ned’s gang has Rooster Cogburn learned from Bagby in Chapter 6?

8. What does Mattie do when Rooster Cogburn goes to grab her as they’re arguing about her going on the trip in Chapter 5?

9. How does Mattie describe the pony she picks out to purchase at Stonehill’s barn in Chapter 5? What does she remark about his legs?

10. What do Mattie, LaBoeuf, and Rooster do at the store when they arrive in the beginning of Chapter 6? Who is the storekeeper?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the racial relations in the United States following the Civil War. How are these race relations illustrated in True Grit? How does Mattie’s relationship with and behavior toward Yarnell Poindexter differ from how he is treated by other white characters in the narrative?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the history of hanging and capital punishment in the United States, particularly in the South, during the late 1800s. What was the largest mass hanging in the U.S.? When did the last execution by public hanging take place? How common were occurrences such as the public hanging in Chapter 2?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the history of the Texas Ranger Division. What role did the Texas Rangers play in the American Civil War? Why have so many works of literature and film revolved around Texas Rangers? What impressions does Mattie have of LaBoeuf’s fancy “getup”?

(see the answer keys)

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