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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 object from Mad Sweeney does Shadow discover in his pocket in Chapter 2?

2. How long has Shadow Moon been in prison at the beginning of the novel?

3. In Chapter 8, Ibis tell Shadow that the dead in ancient Egypt would be fed to Ammet the soul-eater if their sins outweighed what?

4. Who do Mr. Town and Mr. Road interrogate about Shadow in Chapter 9?

5. What do Mad Sweeney and Shadow trade in Chapter 2?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Essie Tregowen make her way to America in Chapter 4?

2. How is Audrey Burton's behavior at Laura Moon's funeral surprising to Shadow?

3. What offer do Ibis and Jacquel make to Shadow in Chapter 8?

4. What is Shadow Moon's role in Wednesday's scam?

5. Who are Mr. Ibis and Mr. Jacquel?

6. How does Wednesday explain to Shadow what happened at the restaurant after the summit at Odin's Hall?

7. What happens to the Vikings in America at the end of Chapter 3?

8. Describe Shadow's dream in Chapter 8.

9. How were the dead judged in ancient Egypt?

10. How does Shadow escape captivity at the end of Chapter 6?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

AMERICAN GODS represents a fusion of ancient gravitas - the gods - and modern day kitsch - their place in America. Write an essay about the marriage of these two disparate existences: the divine and the modern. To do this, choose three locations in the novel that have both cultural significance in America and divine significance in Gaiman's mythos. What is this significance? How do the characters find themselves in these places, and what divine realities do they uncover there? How does this typify the marriage of divine and kitsch?

Essay Topic 2

The mythos created by Neil Gaiman includes a backstage world, one that exists concurrent with our own. Write an essay about his world, examining its connection to humanity. How does it appear in relation our mortal existence? How do the old gods look in this backstage world? What about human beings? How are they affected by this backstage world? Is the backstage connected in any way with the afterlife?

Essay Topic 3

In AMERICAN GODS, death is not necessarily an end. Because the plot deals in the eternal and the divine, characters die and then return to life for various reasons. Write an essay about death in AMERICAN GODS, focusing on three characters who pass back and forth between life and death. How does each character die? Does he or she choose death? If so, why? What brings each character back from death, and are they changed in some way?

Part 1) Laura Moon

Part 2) Wednesday

Part 3) Shadow Moon

(see the answer keys)

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