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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. The author describes a lichen in "Umbilicaria: The Belly Button of the World" as being not one being but two. What are these beings?

2. What does the author describe the frest, raw pole bean as tasting like in "Epiphany in the Beans"?

3. According to the beliefs of the author's people, what does East represent?

4. What does the author describe finding in the soil as she planted sweetgrass in "Putting Down Roots"?

5. What is the author's people's word for cedar?

Short Essay Questions

1. What findings did Laurie's thesis produce in “Mishkos Kenomagwen: The Teachings of Grass”?

2. What metaphor does Kimmerer offer for the braiding of a basket in “Wisgaak Gokpenagen: A Black Ash Basket”?

3. What does domesticity in plants mean?

4. What did Nanabozho learn when his journey took him North?

5. What are the Three Sisters?

6. Why is the concept of circular time important in Native American lore?

7. What lessons did Nanabozho learn from the animals, according to the narrative in “In the Footsteps of Nanabozho: Becoming Indigenous to Place"?

8. How is individuality treated by the author's people? Why is it important?

9. What are growth rings in trees and how are they formed?

10. What does the South represent symbolically to the Anishinaabe people?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the dichotomy between traditional knowledge and science in Braiding Sweetgrass. How are the approaches to these fields different? How did the author become immersed in each? How did she resolve the differences between the two?

Essay Topic 2

How is motherhood treated as a theme in Braiding Sweetgrass? What symbols and metaphors relate or connect to this theme? How has motherhood influenced the author in her examination of nature and her traditional heritage?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the impacts of global and national policies as they relate to climate change and the environment. What efforts have been made to repair our actions of the past? What efforts should be made in the future? How do we go about policy changes?

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This section contains 846 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample