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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. In Chapter 8, what does Leaphorn find hanging from the hogan blanket rope?

2. Who is having a birthday in a few days and turning 13?

3. Whose nickname is "Orange"?

4. What are Belacani?

5. What is Naranjo's hat made of?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the Bow Society as mentioned in Dance Hall of the Dead?

2. What are Leaphorn's plans for Cecil after his father's death?

3. What does George's note to his brother say?

4. What is the job given to Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn in Chapter 2 and why?

5. What had happened the last time that Ted Isaacs had seen Ernesto Cata and George Bowlegs?

6. Describe where Ernesto Cata's body is found.

7. Leaphorn decides to take his rifle with him into the Bowlegs' hogan in Chapter 8. Why does he do this?

8. Describe the vehicle that Leaphorn travels in.

9. What does Leaphorn see standing in the arbor of the commune in Chapter 5?

10. What Navajo custom does Leaphorn honor when he arrives at the Bowlegs' hogan?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The FBI agent, John O'Malley, acts as if the paralyzing dart is not worth worrying about or filing charges against. What is O'Malley communicating to Leaphorn with his words and actions in Chapter 17? Is he showing prejudice against Leaphorn because he's Navajo or because he's just a local authority? How does O'Malley's attitude affect Leaphorn's decisions of what and how to investigate?

Essay Topic 2

Leaphorn is disturbed by the scene at the commune in Chapter 6. Instead of hippies and love and peace, he finds a leader wearing expensive boots who intimidates the teen girl who lives there. Although Susanne obviously cares for George and Ernesto, Halsey is obvious in his disdain of the boys and of the law or "fuzz." Leaphorn also finds another young man on a bad "trip" at the commune. How do these events foreshadow what Leaphorn learns at the end of the chapter?

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 3, the reader learns more about George Bowlegs through Leaphorn's eyes and in his conversation with George's younger brother, Cecil. This information leaves the reader feeling empathetic for both boys who live a life of loneliness and poverty. Which testimony from Chapter 3 is more powerful in its ability to generate the empathy: Leaphorn's observations or what Cecil says. Would the empathy be as strong with only perspective of the Bowlegs home life?

(see the answer keys)

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