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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. Why is Coyote Runs going to the answer to question #75?

2. What does Coyote Runs call his mother when she lights the cook fire?

3. What kind of weapon does Coyote Runs have?

4. What does Brennan take with him when he goes to his sleeping bag?

5. What does Coyote Runs call the place he has gone to time after time to pray?

Short Essay Questions

1. How close is Brennan and his father and what happens that hurts his mother?

2. Where does the van in which Brennan is riding stop and then what do they do?

3. What does Brennan notice as he is arriving at his house in Chapter 2?

4. Where does Brennan's mother tell him they are going and with whom?

5. What is Coyote Runs told to do on the raid?

6. What horse is Coyote Runs riding after the raid and what are his hopes concerning it?

7. What does Brennan hear and what does he do with the skull?

8. What does Brennan suggest at the camp site to settle the children?

9. Why is Brennan annoyed while riding in the van? How does he feel about being there?

10. What kind of school and where is it that Coyote Runs attended and who attended with him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Brennan returns home from the camping trip and finds himself obsessed with the skull. Brennan has many dreams that are not of experiences he has ever had, making Brennan wonder if perhaps there is some kind of connection between him and the skull.

1. There seems to be an implication here that the dead can talk to the living in dreams. Do you believe this is true? Why or why not?

2. Do you think Brennan's reaction to the skull and the dreams is the way most 15-year-old boys would react? Why or why not?

3. Do you think Brennan's reaction to the skull and dreams is reasonable and believable? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Coyote Runs is shot and killed by a white soldier who jokes as he shoots a fourteen-year-old boy in the head. Discuss the following:

1. How do the circumstances demonstrate the tendency of people to dehumanize an enemy? Use examples from Canyons and from other sources to support your answer.

2. Describe ways in which prejudice contributed to Coyote Runs' death.

3. Discuss the ways in which Coyote Runs thoughts demonstrated his prejudice against white people.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the following:

1. What is a plot? What are the most important elements of a plot and their definition? Do all novels have a plot? Why or why not?

2. Write a brief synopsis of the plot of Canyons, identifying where the various elements of the plot occur (Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution or denouement). Do you find it difficult to identify the plot? Why or why not? What about the various elements of the plot?

3. Identify the major sub-plots and their elements (They may not contain every element of a major plot). Do the sub-plots add to the main plot? Why or why not. Are the sub-plots interesting in and of themselves? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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