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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. After the white traveler is taken away from Havre, who does the narrator wish he could find?

2. While the narrator is trying to rescue the cow, what other animal appears nearby to watch?

3. In the family graveyard, what material does the family use for grave markers?

4. What is the name of the bartender in the Palace Bar in Havre?

5. Who does the narrator address that he seems to compare to himself and the fate of his people?

Short Essay Questions

1. Based on the behavior of the white traveling man, what may have happened if the narrator had driven him over the border?

2. While the narrator is digging his grandmother's grave, what does he remember about his father?

3. When the narrator sees the white man arrested, how is he treated by the other bar patrons?

4. While Mose and the narrator are herding cattle, what contributes to Mose's death?

5. What does the narrator think about while struggling to rescue the cow at the end of the book?

6. When the narrator returns home from Havre, how does he feel?

7. While the narrator is riding home from Havre, what does he notice about the little girl in the car and how is that significant?

8. How is the narrator treated by the people who give him a ride home from Havre, and how is that typical of his experiences with outsiders?

9. In Chapter 36, before Mose dies, what is the mood of the story?

10. Why does First Raise take the narrator to visit Yellow Calf and why is that significant?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Numerous times throughout the story, the narrator has to remind different characters of his age. How does this necessity contribute to the main character's difficulties? Why does he sometimes have to remind himself that he is thirty-two-years-old?

Essay Topic 2

What is the goal of the main character? Toward the end of the novel, does the narrator accomplish his goal? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

How does the grandmother's role in the story change by the end of the novel? How does her history affect the narrator?

(see the answer keys)

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