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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 does Brennan tell his mother is the only way to get the kids to sleep?

2. What does the event in question #1 mark for Coyote Runs?

3. How does Coyote Runs think he must be on his quest to be a man?

4. What did Coyote Runs' people call the white soldiers?

5. Why did Coyote Runs go to the stream when he woke in the morning?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Brennan feel about the person driving the van and how does he feel about the kids in it by the time they arrive?

2. What horse is Coyote Runs riding after the raid and what are his hopes concerning it?

3. What does Brennan notice as he is arriving at his house in Chapter 2?

4. Why can't Brennan sleep and why does he dig a skull out of the dirt?

5. Where does the van in which Brennan is riding stop and then what do they do?

6. How close is Brennan and his father and what happens that hurts his mother?

7. Why is Brennan annoyed while riding in the van? How does he feel about being there?

8. Why is the event in question #1 significant to Coyote Runs and how has he prepared for this event?

9. What does Brennan do immediately with skull and what is his guess about it?

10. What does Coyote Runs learn he will be doing soon and which of his friends will be doing it also?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the following:

1. What do you think are the characteristics of a successful novel?

2. Analyze and discuss Canyons based upon the criteria you decide upon in #1 and judge if Canyons is a successful novel.

3. Do you think the fact that Canyons has paranormal incidences in it changes whether it is a successful novel especially along the lines of whether it is believable? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss one of the following:

1. What is the symbolism between Brennan's life and Coyote Runs' life?

2. With research define narrative contrivance and make a case for or against whether the fact it was a fourteen year old boy who runs found the skull and other contrivances, such as Brennan injuring his ankle just as Coyote Runs' ankle was injured from being shot.

3. With research, chose a group of people today who are experiencing the same type of genocide that the American Indian experienced in the 1800s. Discuss the differences and similarities between the two groups of people.

Essay Topic 3

Coyote Runs is shot and killed by a white soldier who jokes as he shoots a fourteen-year-old boy in the head. Discuss the following:

1. How do the circumstances demonstrate the tendency of people to dehumanize an enemy? Use examples from Canyons and from other sources to support your answer.

2. Describe ways in which prejudice contributed to Coyote Runs' death.

3. Discuss the ways in which Coyote Runs thoughts demonstrated his prejudice against white people.

(see the answer keys)

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