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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. Which god weighs Shadow's sins in the hall of the dead?

3. What does Wednesday request for his afterlife at the end of Chapter 16?

4. What does Bast take from Shadow when she meets him on the path?

5. In Chapter 12, what does Wednesday call the realm behind the normal world where the gods can be seen in their true form?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. What is backstage?

5. How does Laura Moon kill Mr. World in Chapter 18?

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

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

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

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

10. What does Shadow experience on the tree on the second day of the vigil?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

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

The mythos created by Neil Gaiman includes a backstage world, one that exists concurrent with our own. Write an essay about his world, examining its connection to humanity. How does it appear in relation our mortal existence? How do the old gods look in this backstage world? What about human beings? How are they affected by this backstage world? Is the backstage connected in any way with the afterlife?

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