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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 does Odin self-sacrifice in Norse lore?

2. What brand of car does Shadow Moon purchase in Chapter 10?

3. At the end of Chapter 3, the Vikings sacrifice a scraeling in preparation for what season?

4. What is Jacquel doing when Ibis and Shadow return to the funeral home?

5. How many gods are waiting in the hall when Wednesday arrives in Chapter 6?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What is Wednesday's plan to get money from the bank?

3. What is the purpose of the checkers game in Chapter 4?

4. Who do Shadow and Wednesday meet in Chicago?

5. What is the Lakeside raffle?

6. How does Shadow discover that he needs to go to Cairo in Chapter 7?

7. How does Mad Sweeney figure into the plot in Chapter 8?

8. How does Mr. Nancy look in the realm of the gods?

9. Why is Shadow Moon released early from prison in Chapter 1?

10. Describe Shadow Moon's dream in Chapter 3.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about the role of dreams in Neil Gaiman's novel. Shadow has a dream nearly every chapter. Who are the recurring figures in these dreams, and what messages do they deliver? Describe how these dreams serve to foreshadow events and drop clues for the reader? At any point, does the dream logic find its way into the waking hours of Shadow's life? How does Shadow as a character react to these dreams? Does he question their validity?

Essay Topic 2

The plot of Gaiman's novel can be viewed as an epic amalgamation of many cultures in the arena of one country. On the other hand, the novel can be viewed as a very personal story about one man's journey out of despair. Write an essay chronicling Shadow Moon's character arc. How is he denied any objective by circumstance at the outset of the story? Why does he join Wednesday's campaign, and over the course of it, why does he choose not to commit suicide? By the end of the novel, has Shadow reached some state of new contentment?

Essay Topic 3

The new gods of the novel are perhaps Gaiman's strangest creation, being not necessarily inherently divine. Write an essay discussing these gods and their place in the narrative. Why are they divine at the time of the novel? What has invested them with their divinity, and how are they manifest on earth? Why do they want to destroy the old gods? In the end, are these new gods actually meant to be the villains of the novel? If not, what are they?

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