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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 is playing on the juke box at the Y bar when Tayo and the others enter the bar?

2. What does Ts’eh tell Tayo where the cattle are located ask him when he first comes to her house?

3. What is the name of the medicine man that Ku'oosh wants Tayo to see?

4. Why does Auntie keep Josiah very busy?

5. What does Ku'oosh place on Tayo’s stomach before he leaves?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Rocky and Auntie feel about Josiah’s decision on how to take care of the cattle?

2. What are Tayo’s symptoms after he leaves the hospital and how does a Japanese person help him?

3. Why does Tayo feel guilty about Josiah?

4. How does Josiah’s sister feel about Night Swan?

5. What kind of Indian is Tayo and what are his earliest memories of his mother?

6. How is Rocky different from Tayo and what does Rocky want to do when he is an adult?

7. Who are the family members who are kind to Tayo?

8. What does Josiah tell Tayo about the spring and how does Tayo feel about the story?

9. How does Robert begin to break through to Tayo and why might Robert be a good person to talk to his nephew?

10. How does Tayo prefer to sleep and how does Old Grandma and Robert feel around Tayo?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

This writer, a Native American herself, is communicating a way her own people can adapt to the changes that have taken place and are taking place in their own world while hanging on to their own identity at the same time.

Discuss at least three ways which Silko advocates can help her people adapt to the changes in their culture while continuing to hold onto their own cultural identity. Use examples from Ceremony to support your response.

Essay Topic 2

Often, authors will write about what they know, and sometimes knowing a little about the author makes the books more interesting.

Research and give a brief biographical sketch of Leslie Marmon Silko. Do you think there is always some of the author's own life in his/her novels? Why or why not? Give examples. Name one idea/concept you think may have been a part of the Silko's agenda. Analyze that idea throughout the book and discuss Silko's probable agenda concerning that idea.

Essay Topic 3

There is a contrast drawn between Native American spirituality and Christianity, and Christianity doesn't come off very well. Auntie is the only character in the story who represents the white man's religion, and her whole existence is focused on the reputation of the family.

Discuss the reasons the above statement may or may not be valid using illustrations from Auntie’s behavior that is derived from her religion and examples of the medicine man’s behavior that is derived from his spiritual beliefs.

(see the answer keys)

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