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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 war does the narrator say Hector's grandmother was born before?

2. Who does the narrator say he knows is buried in Hector's empty coffin?

3. Who holds Hector in the photograph the narrator has of him?

4. Which South Dakota battle does the narrator say the U.S. Army massacred hundreds of unarmed people?

5. What information was carved into Hector's wooden grave marker?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the narrator say it was inevitable that Hector would become "a violent man who died violently" (3)?

2. Why does the narrator feel certain Hector would not have been killed by a white man?

3. How does the narrator imagine Hector met his death after leaving for Spokane?

4. What does the narrator hopes the Indians who killed his uncle did as they buried him?

5. How does the narrator feel at the end of the story standing in the cemetery?

6. What is the best thing the narrator's father ever said to him?

7. Why does the narrator feel certain Hector was most likely killed by a member of his own tribe?

8. What does the narrator plan to do at the end of the story?

9. Who is Agnes? Why does the narrator have a picture of her?

10. What does the narrator wish one of his uncle's killers would do after the funeral?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The only characters named in the story are Hector and Agnes. Write an essay analyzing why the author chose to name only these two characters. What impact did this have on your reading? How might this choice represent the theme of inherited pain or oppression?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay about what you would include in the story if it were a longer work. What did you want to know more about? Why? How might the author include the information?

Essay Topic 3

Genre is a category assigned to a literary work, like a novel. What are some genres that could be used to classify "Happy Trails"? What is the main genre of the story? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

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