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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where does the story take place?
(a) In Phoenix.
(b) In Taos.
(c) In New York.
(d) In Navajo Country.

2. Where did Ayah escape to after she lost her last two children?
(a) The medicine man.
(b) The hills.
(c) A hogan.
(d) Her mother's.

3. Where does Ayah go first on her search?
(a) A barn.
(b) A ranch.
(c) A hogan.
(d) Azzie's Bar.

4. How did Chato tell Ayah that Jimmie died?
(a) He told her in English.
(b) He used the Navajo word for death.
(c) He wrote it down.
(d) He hugged her.

5. What did Ayah do to try to prevent the Bureau of Indian Affairs from taking her children?
(a) She shot at them with a gun.
(b) She hid them and herself in the hills.
(c) She cursed them.
(d) She fought them.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Ayah, what makes the government worker frightened?

2. Where does Ayah remember her mother taking her after the birth of her oldest son?

3. What does Ayah remember is remarkable about elkhide moccasins?

4. How did Ayah punish Chato for teaching her English and failing to keep her kids from being taken away?

5. In what manner does Ayah conduct herself in the bar?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why was Ayah satisfied when the white rancher fires Chato and evicted them from the shack?

2. Why did Ayah no longer feel cold after remembering weaving and her traditional clothing?

3. What is significant about Chato getting sick after the white rancher he works for fires him and evicts him from the ranch?

4. What does Silko mean when she says that Ayah's life becomes memories?

5. How did Ayah find peace in the fear stained air of Azzie's Bar?

6. What is the significance of the doctors returning the next day with a police officer?

7. Why is it important for Ayah to remember that her mother's blankets are soft and woven so tight that rain rolls off of them?

8. How does Ayah's fear of the white doctors drive her to give away her children?

9. Why did Chato not like walking behind the old sheep he and Ayah owned?

10. What is significant about Chato in his drunken state, telling Ayah, "You know they can't run that ranch without me"?

(see the answer keys)

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