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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. Who arrives in Shadow's nothingness to convince him to return to life at the beginning of Chapter 18?

2. What does Wednesday admonish Shadow not to dream about in Chapter 11?

3. What happens to Bilquis, the Queen of Sheba, at the end of Chapter 12?

4. What is Laura certain of as she sits next to the dead Shadow in Chapter 17?

5. Who rescues Shadow from the freezing water in Chapter 20?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What divine message does Shadow recall in Chapter 19?

3. Describe Shadow's interaction with Zorya Polunochnyaya in Chapter 16?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Neil Gaiman's novel is not a historical document, but he does provide the occasional, fictionalized explanation of historical events. Write an essay examining three examples of raw historical information. How does Gaiman use a fiction writer's syntax to make these bits of information more palatable? What is their tone? What character does each historical digression follow? What, in the end, is the reader left feeling about the introduction of a given set of beliefs to America?

Part 1) The introduction of peoples across the ice bridge.

Part 2) The introduction of British indentured servants to America.

Part 3) The arrival of African slaves to America.

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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