View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What color of sheets are on the bed at Josiah’s mistress’s home?

2. Why do the two cowboys chasing Tayo leave not take him back to their boss?

3. What does Tayo feel about the medicine man’s possessions?

4. What has Rocky promised to buy Old Grandma with his army pay?

5. How does Ts’eh match up plants and stones when she is sorting them on her table?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do the two ranch hands leave Tayo alone?

2. How does Tayo prefer to sleep and how does Old Grandma and Robert feel around Tayo?

3. Where does Robert take Tayo at Ku'oosh’s suggestion and how does Tayo feel when he gets there? How does Tayo’s feelings change?

4. What does Betonie say when Tayo says he wants to find Josiah’s cattle?

5. What are Tayo’s symptoms after he leaves the hospital and how does a Japanese person help him?

6. Who is hired as a shepherd after Harley and how does that go?

7. Where is Tayo when his friends find him and what does Tayo tell himself about them?

8. How does Rocky end up dead?

9. What kind of Indian is Tayo and what are his earliest memories of his mother?

10. Why does Tayo feel guilty about Josiah?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze and discuss what you think are the characteristics of a successful novel and why Ceremony is or is not a successful novel based on your criteria. Do you think the criteria for a successful novel should be different if it is written for adults versus young adults?

Essay Topic 2

There is a contrast drawn between Native American spirituality and Christianity, and Christianity doesn't come off very well. Auntie is the only character in the story who represents the white man's religion, and her whole existence is focused on the reputation of the family.

Discuss the reasons the above statement may or may not be valid using illustrations from Auntie’s behavior that is derived from her religion and examples of the medicine man’s behavior that is derived from his spiritual beliefs.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 955 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample