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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. Harjo learned at church that anything "visionary on a personal level," (37) especially in girls or women, was what?

2. In what liquid did Harjo's stepfather douse her mother on the night she came home from a weekly visit with her girlfriends?

3. From what country did the three young girls called out by the preacher at church originally hail?

4. How many hours did it take Harjo's family to drive to the location of her mother's final public singing performance?

5. What element does Harjo say "can help raise a people up or call them to gather for war" (11)?

Short Essay Questions

1. What sort of coping mechanisms does Harjo portray as detrimental, rather than helpful?

2. What events does Harjo imagine would have unfolded if a member of the family had called the police about their stepfather's abuse?

3. What is the significance of the palm reader's analysis of Harjo's left hand in the part of the text entitled North?

4. Discuss an instance of irony that also acts as an example of foreshadowing within the part of the memoir called North.

5. What is Harjo's message regarding the way in which everyone must deal with their "gulfs of sadness" (15)?

6. Name and discuss two themes that emerge within the epigraph of the memoir Crazy Brave.

7. What role did Jazz music play in the development of Harjo's identity?

8. For what reason does Harjo's mother stay with her second husband, even when it becomes clear that he is controlling and abusive?

9. In what way does Harjo use sensory details to get across a particular message to the reader in the part of the text entitled East?

10. Soon after Harjo's family moved to the house on Independence Street, Harjo awoke to the sound of her sister crying. What was going on?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the interplay between the final passages of Crazy Brave and one of the memoir's main messages. How does Harjo make connections between these elements and how does their juxtaposition help them get across one main message of the memoir?

Essay Topic 2

Choose an object from Crazy Brave, such as the chocolate bar, the lizard, or some other symbolic object and discuss its overall meaning and its connection to themes within the text.

Essay Topic 3

What messages does Harjo send to the audience about the themes of isolation and outreach?

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