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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. In "Half-Life," which earlier story does David allude to when he is telling Fellis a story from his childhood?
(a) "The Blessing Tobacco."
(b) "Smokes Last."
(c) "In a Jar."
(d) "Food for the Common Cold."

2. In "Half-Life," when David is waiting for Meekew to get home, where is Meekew?
(a) In the hospital.
(b) In jail.
(c) At David's house.
(d) At his college.

3. In "The Name Means Thunder," who is Marla?
(a) A social worker.
(b) A baby nurse.
(c) A neighbor.
(d) A police officer.

4. In "Half-Life," how many days does David manage to go without taking any Klonopin?
(a) Two.
(b) Six.
(c) Zero.
(d) Four.

5. In "The Name Means Thunder," what kind of narrator is David portraying himself as when he describes telling this story to his therapist and ex-wife?
(a) Unreliable.
(b) Detached.
(c) Biased.
(d) Objective.

Short Answer Questions

1. How old is David when "The Name Means Thunder" takes place?

2. In "Night of the Living Rez," how does David feel the world changes each time he comes home from a visit to his father?

3. In "Night of the Living Rez," when David's mother drops a fork, what does she say this means?

4. In "Safe Harbor," what techniques are used when David says that laughing with his mother "scrapes the dark and grimy walls inside" him (129)?

5. In "Safe Harbor," how does David end up in the emergency room, himself?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "The Name Means Thunder," how does Paige's window screen end up playing an important role in the plot?

2. In "Half-Life," what incident early in the story demonstrates how much time David has begun losing to his drug use?

3. In "Smokes Last," what story does Frick tell about shooting in his childhood, and how does it reinforce a motif in the way he relates to David?

4. In "The Name Means Thunder," how does David's mother's behavior change once Bedogi is in the house?

5. In "Night of the Living Rez," what is a reasonable inference about whom Paige is referring to when she loudly calls someone "That motherfucking pig," and what evidence backs up this inference (244)?

6. In "Smokes Last," how do David and Tyson end up breaking a window?

7. In "Earth, Speak," why is Fellis so angry at Daryl?

8. In "Safe Harbor," what suspicion does David have about the worker outside the clinic in the beginning of the story that is borne out by the man's remarks near the story's end?

9. In "The Name Means Thunder," how do the words that David whispers to Bedogi contrast with what David is really thinking and feeling?

10. When David is running from the police in "Earth, Speak," what help does he get from an unexpected source, and what evidence is there in the end of the story that this gesture mattered deeply to David?

(see the answer keys)

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