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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 advice does Ishi give Timawi after Timawi suggests that they can force the saldu out of the Bushki village?

2. Why do the Yahi no longer spend the summer on the mountain?

3. What does Ishi assume when he first sees Timawi sitting beneath the tree?

4. Why does Ishi retrieve his arrow from the tree into which he had misfired?

5. According to the story that Grandfather tells, where did the old woman hide the fire that she had stolen from the Fire People?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Tushi's contribution to the move conflict with the traditional expectations that the Yahi have for women?

2. What does Grandfather say to Elder Uncle in order to reassure him after Timawi and Ishi leave?

3. Why do Ishi and Tushi plan a Harvest Feast?

4. Where does Ishi decide to go on his journey?

5. How do Ishi and Tushi ensure that their presence remains hidden from the saldu?

6. How is the Yahi creation story similar to the Judeo-Christian creation story (the creation story of the white man)?

7. What comment does Grandfather make regarding Ishi's eating after he returns from his journey?

8. What details about the Harvest Feast suggest that Ishi and his family are the last of their tribe?

9. What does Tushi refuse to wear the sweetgrass bracelet that Timawi wants to give her?

10. What does Ishi discover when he returns to the village after he moves Mother?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast Ishi's old life in the Yahi world and his new life with the saldu. How does he adapt to his new life? How does he merge his old life into his new life? Provide specific examples and quotations to support your observations.

Essay Topic 2

How are Ishi and his family about to avoid the saldu for so long? Analyze the measures that the tribe takes in order to hide their existence from the saldu all around them. How do these efforts protect them? What causes these efforts to fail? In the end, was hiding their best option, or should they have taken another approach? Support you opinions with specific evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Dreams carry a lot of significance for Ishi and his people. Analyze the importance of dreams in the novel and the influence that dreams have on the characters. Support your analysis with specific examples and quotations.

(see the answer keys)

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