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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. How old was Harjo when she exhibited symptoms of polio?

2. How much older than Harjo's mother was the man she ended up with after divorcing Harjo's father?

3. What kind of church had Harjo just begun to attend when her "travel through story realms stopped" (37)?

4. Harjo states that which person in her family is "one of the oldest living relatives in [her] family line" (13)?

5. In what room of the house did Harjo awake to find her stepfather hurting her little sister Margaret?

Short Essay Questions

1. What sort of coping mechanisms does Harjo portray as detrimental, rather than helpful?

2. How and why did Harjo's career plans change during her first year at the Institute of American Indian Arts?

3. Discuss a moment in the part of the text entitled East when Harjo provides a feminist perspective.

4. Name and discuss two themes that emerge within the epigraph of the memoir Crazy Brave.

5. What new behavior did Harjo's stepfather begin to exhibit each day after her mother left for work?

6. What is the significance of the song entitled "Weeping Willow" (34)?

7. What role did Jazz music play in the development of Harjo's identity?

8. What is Harjo's message regarding the way in which everyone must deal with their "gulfs of sadness" (15)?

9. Who was Osceola and what is the significance of Harjo's connection to him?

10. For what reason does Harjo's mother stay with her second husband, even when it becomes clear that he is controlling and abusive?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Read a lengthy interview with Harjo. Write an essay explaining the connection between several of Harjo’s answers and a major theme presented within the text of Crazy Brave.

Essay Topic 2

Examine how Harjo goes about connecting personal experience with the arguments she puts forth within the pages of Crazy Brave. How does Harjo accomplish this goal and how does this goal relate to the overarching themes of the text?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Harjo's choice to tell the story of Crazy Brave using both prose and poetry. What elements of the memoir's themes lend themselves to this choice and what are Harjo’s intended effects on the reader?

(see the answer keys)

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