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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. What does Ts’eh tell Tayo where the cattle are located ask him when he first comes to her house?

2. What does Robert tell Tayo the elders have said when Tayo tells Robert he is ready to help?

3. How does the medicine man Tayo is sent to wear his hair?

4. Why does Josiah send Tayo with a note to Josiah’s mistress?

5. What color is the beard of the store keeper where Tayo tries to buy some candy?

Short Essay Questions

1. Of what does Tayo dream as he and Robert prepare for winter? What does Tayo decide to do because of the dreams?

2. What does Tayo’s mother do with him when he is four?

3. What does the herd of cattle do as soon as they are unloaded and what does Josiah tell Tayo about their behavior?

4. How are the cattle branded and what does Josiah do about that?

5. What does Betonie do when he takes Tayo up into the foothills? How does Tayo respond?

6. What does Tayo do with his memories of Night Swan and Josiah?

7. How does a woman help Tayo find the cattle?

8. Who are the family members who are kind to Tayo?

9. What does Tayo watch his friends do from a boulder above them?

10. What does Tayo tell Ku'oosh about the war and about the drought?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Tayo must deal with a lifelong self-concept fostered by Auntie and both the Pueblo Indians and the white people that he is somehow an outcast and unfit because he is neither white nor Indian.

Discuss the ways in which a person might be affected by feeling like he does not fit into any group or culture. Include in the discussion reasons the Indians and the whites might view Tayo as not belonging to their group. Use examples from Ceremony to support your response.

Essay Topic 2

There are many elements of effective psychotherapy in the counseling that Tayo receives from both Ku'oosh and Betonie. They guide him gently through a recounting, re-examination and recasting of all the demons that possess him.

Discuss reasons Tayo talking about his experiences might help him come to terms with what he has been through. Include a discussion of what the above statement might mean by “Tayo’s demons.” Use examples from Ceremony to support your response.

Essay Topic 3

When Ku'oosh comes to Tayo, he brings medicines — the Indian tea and the blue corn, but he also brings stories, another form of medicine.

Discuss why stories might help a person dealing with mental or emotional agony. What are two stories Tayo is told and how do you think they related to his situation?

(see the answer keys)

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