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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Ayah remember is remarkable about elkhide moccasins?
(a) They keep a person's legs warm.
(b) They keep a person's legs dry in the snow.
(c) They are traditional shoes.
(d) They are handmade.

2. What is Jimmie's birth order?
(a) Second youngest.
(b) Middle.
(c) Eldest.
(d) Youngest.

3. What is the overall tone of the first half of the story?
(a) Joy.
(b) Contentment.
(c) Peace.
(d) Loss.

4. What does Ayah believe the people in the bar feel about her being in the bar?
(a) They are nervous.
(b) They are anxious.
(c) They are angry.
(d) They are afraid.

5. In what manner does Ayah conduct herself in the bar?
(a) With sorrow.
(b) With pride.
(c) With fear.
(d) With age.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why is Ayah surprised when she reaches the wooden steps of the bar?

2. As Ayah studies the faces in the bar, whom do they remind her of?

3. When Ayah enters the bar, what do the men do to her?

4. Who came to Ayah's house to discuss news about Jimmie?

5. Why does Ayah visually search every dark place in the bar?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the men's fear in the bar satisfy Ayah?

2. Why does Silko make a point of stating that the white doctors came before they hire Navajo women to go with them as interpreters?

3. What is significant about Chato getting sick after the white rancher he works for fires him and evicts him from the ranch?

4. Why did Ayah no longer feel cold after remembering weaving and her traditional clothing?

5. What is the significance of Ayah's tracks in the snow being filled by the falling snow until they're gone? How does this apply to Ayah's memories?

6. Why did Chato not like walking behind the old sheep he and Ayah owned?

7. When Ayah openly accuses the whites of lying, why does Chato's words, "It's too late now", symbolic of the white and Native American relationships of the past?

8. Why does Ayah hate the information that Chato told her it was the old woman who died in the winter that gave the children a disease?

9. Why is Ayah's hatred of the fact that Chato teaches her to sign her name a part of the theme of the story?

10. How does Ayah's fear of the white doctors drive her to give away her children?

(see the answer keys)

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