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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. According to Shadow, which god was not around when he left the cave?

2. What bad news about herself does Laura tell Shadow in Chapter 15?

3. How does Sam Black Crow respond to Shadow's story about the war between the gods?

4. What god do Wednesday and Shadow meet in San Francisco?

5. Who does Chad Mulligan tell Shadow is missing in Chapter 11?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the nature of Wednesday's vigil?

2. How does Shadow Moon interact with the camp of the new gods in Chapter 14?

3. How do Sam Black Crow and Shadow connect in Chapter 13?

4. Why have children been disappearing for years in Lakewood?

5. What is Loki and Wednesday's plan for the battle?

6. What betrayal occurs in the ranks of the new gods at the end of Chapter 17?

7. What does Shadow experience on the tree on the first day of the vigil?

8. Why does Easter not want to join Wednesday's campaign, and how does he convince he to?

9. How does Czernobog take his prize from Shadow in Chapter 20?

10. What is backstage?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Laura Moon is perhaps the strangest and most ambiguous of characters in AMERICAN GODS. The reader is introduced to her as an adulteress and a corpse. Write an essay about her as a character. What reason does she give for her infidelity? How does death affect the way that she interacts with the living, particularly Shadow? At what point in the novel does Laura decide to take action to help Shadow? How does this affect the reader's attitude toward her?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Shadow Moon has two relationships that are juxtaposed in the novel: one with Wednesday and one with Laura Moon. Write an essay about this juxtaposition. Of which relationship is Shadow inherently more wary? Which one does he pursue with more commitment? How does each relationship contain a major betrayal? In the end, is Shadow stronger for his weathering both of these unhealthy relationships?

(see the answer keys)

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