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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 is the name of the Apache sheepherder Auntie has?

2. What does the medicine man tell Tayo is the reason Tayo is having a difficult time getting well?

3. What is the main thing wrong with white people, according to the creation legend?

4. What does the medicine man say white people are to witchery?

5. Who told Sun Man how to win the clouds back from the Gambler?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Josiah decide to purchase and who advised him to do it?

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

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

4. What do Tayo’s friends do when they come again and what does he do first?

5. Why does Tayo feel guilty about Josiah?

6. How does Robert begin to break through to Tayo and why might Robert be a good person to talk to his nephew?

7. What does Tayo first do when he leaves Betonie?

8. What does Betonie show Tayo about his illness and how it is related to white people?

9. What does Ku'oosh talk to Tayo about?

10. How does Tayo free the cattle and what kind of animal does he see when he is freeing the cattle?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Tayo's friends are bewitched and dangerous. He must separate himself from them, and his attempts to do so almost get him killed. They cannot deal with his increasing understanding, so they must kill him.

Discuss why Tayo’s friends are threatened by Tayo’s continual walk towards mental health and why his change might make them feel threatened. Use examples from Ceremony to support your response.

Essay Topic 3

One of the themes of the story is that white people are alien, they are not superior, as is commonly thought, and do not dictate cultural morés to the Native Americans.

Discuss the reasons the Indians might have viewed white people as alien or strange and how some of that viewpoint changed during the course of Ceremony. Use examples from Ceremony to support your response.

(see the answer keys)

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