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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. In what form does the search engine appear in Chapter 12?

2. Who kills Hinzlemann?

3. What item(s) mysteriously appears in Sam Black Crow's hands in the end of Chapter 20?

4. What does drinking the water of time do for Laura Moon in Chapter 17?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What transformation does Laura Moon undergo in Chapter 17?

4. What do Mr. Nancy and Shadow do in Chapter 19?

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. Why have children been disappearing for years in Lakewood?

8. How does Shadow's journey in Chapter 16 end?

9. What connection forms between Wututu and Agasu when they are taken to America?

10. What is backstage?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In many respects, the main character of Neil Gaiman's novel is America. In his understanding, the "melting pot" is a profoundly spiritual place because it has embraced so many different spirits. Write an essay on the topic of the novel as a treatise celebrating America's spiritual past. What faiths does the narrative encompass? What value does it assign each? Is one more important than the others? Do you think that Gaiman, a Brit, presents a largely positive or negative picture of America in AMERICAN GODS? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

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

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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