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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 long does Wednesday have to get his affairs in order?

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

3. What does Audrey Burton do at Laura Moon's funeral that surprises Shadow?

4. Where does Shadow Moon meet Mr. Nancy in Chapter 5?

5. In his Chapter 9 dream, what does he offer the Buffalo Man to be released from his rock tomb?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How does Shadow enter the realm of the gods at the end of Chapter 5?

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

5. Describe Mr. Wednesday.

6. How does Shadow become acquainted with Lakeside?

7. What is the Lakeside raffle?

8. How is does Laura Moon find her way to Shadow's hotel in Chapter 3?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Neil Gaiman's AMERICAN GODS posits a world in which the gods of all cultures that have crossed the pond to America live among us and with knowledge of each other. Simultaneously, these gods are in competition with new gods comprised of secular aspects of daily life that we as a culture worship. Write an essay laying out the rules by which these gods live. From what do they draw their power? How do they carry on their divine work in the modern era? What do they fear? What do they yearn for? How, in the end, can a god be killed?

Essay Topic 2

Coins play an important role in the novel. They are more than merely metal indicators of monetary value: they are powerful symbols. Write an essay about coins as a symbol in the novel, focusing on their value to three characters. What function do they serve beyond their monetary significance? Do they offer strength? Protection? Some other strange power? What happens when they are given or lost?

Part 1) Shadow Moon

Part 2) Mad Sweeney

Part 3) Zorya Polunochnyaya

Essay Topic 3

Part of Neil Gaiman's agenda in writing AMERICAN GODS is to illustrate how the traditions of today's popular religions have their roots in the ancient pagan faiths. He does this by craftily presenting these similarities baldly but without author's commentary. Write an essay about two of these examples:

Part 1) Early in the novel, Gaiman tells the story of Vikings who came to America. What traditional story of Odin do they bring with them? What iconography is so central that they reenact it in celebration of the god? To what Christian iconography is this similar? In what way does this create a comparison between Odin and Jesus Christ?

Part 2) Midway through AMERICAN GODS, Shadow and Wednesday go to San Francisco to speak with the goddess Easter. What connection does she draw between her divine traditions and the Christian celebration named for her? How are the two connected? What argument does Wednesday make to Easter regarding her presence in the Christian holiday?

(see the answer keys)

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