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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 happens to Jack's horse as he rides one morning in chapter 18?

2. What happens to Jack in the final moments of the battle?

3. Why does Jack want to find Caroline?

4. What does Amelia try to steal from Jack in chapter 21?

5. Who does Jack believe his sister Caroline has most likely married?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Custer rush the attack on the Sioux Indians?

2. Who is Wild Bill Hickok? Why is he afraid of being shot?

3. What is significant about the name given to Jack's son with Sunshine?

4. Who cares for Jack after he collapses in a snow bank?

5. What does the writer/editor say about his opinion of the truthfulness of Jack's story?

6. Why does Jack come to believe Caroline has gone insane?

7. What happened to Jack after telling his story to the writer/editor?

8. What does Old Lodge Skins say to the body of Custer?

9. How does Jack finally become a scout? Who is he to report to?

10. Why does Jack steal a soldier's uniform from a dead soldier?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Who is Old Lodge Skins? How did Jack come to live with Old Lodge Skins and his band of Cheyenne Indians? Why did Old Lodge Skins accept and adopt a white child as his own? Why did Old Lodge Skins refuse to be a warrior chief? Did everyone agree with Old Lodge Skins' decisions and actions? What impact did Old Lodge Skins' teachings and advice have on Jack during and after his childhood? Why did Old Lodge Skins choose Jack to accompany him in his death ritual?

Essay Topic 2

This novel depicts Indians slaughtering men and raping women because of a cultural misunderstanding. Discuss the differences in the culture between the Whites and the Indians. Why did the drunk white men slapping the Indians on the back set off a massacre? Why did Jack's show of concern for a young Indian brave cause them to become lifetime enemies? How did living with the Cheyenne during childhood affect Jack's personality and actions as an adult?

Essay Topic 3

Who is George Armstrong Custer? What is significant to the reader when Custer is first introduced to the plot? Was Custer a real person? How does the author's depiction of Custer fit with what the reader may already know about him? Why does Jack want to kill Custer? What does Jack blame Custer for? Why is Custer hunting the Indians? What will the eventual outcome of this hunt be? How does the reader know this? How does this foreshadow danger and add tension to the plot?

(see the answer keys)

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