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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. According to Ayah's memory, what would have happened to her if she entered the bar years ago?
(a) She would have been arrested.
(b) She would have been served without a problem.
(c) They would have thrown her out.
(d) She would have had to enter through a backdoor.

2. What affliction does Chato suffer from because of his old age?
(a) Fatigue.
(b) Brittle bones.
(c) Ulcer.
(d) Dementia.

3. Who came to Ayah's house to discuss news about Jimmie?
(a) A medicine man.
(b) A uniformed man dressed in a khaki uniform.
(c) Chato.
(d) A Navajo man with a government worker.

4. What does the wet wool smell of her blanket remind Ayah of?
(a) Jimmie.
(b) Sheep.
(c) Life.
(d) Newborn goats.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Why is the Spanish polka music the only sounds in the bar?

2. What is one characteristic of Ayah's mother's woven blankets?

3. The last time Ayah met with her children, how did Ella stare at her?

4. In the present, at the beginning of the second section, where is Ayah?

5. As Ayah learned the rhythm of her pains while in labor with Jimmie, what did she smell outside the stone hogan?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do the scars on Chato's hands symbolize?

2. Ayah signs the papers the white doctors want, feeling proud that she can sign her name in English. Why does this simple act of signing her name cost her so much?

3. What does Jimmie's true Navajo name being reduced to something as common as "Jimmie" in English say about the white man?

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

5. Why is Ayah's hatred of the fact that Chato teaches her to sign her name a part of the theme of the story?

6. What is the significance of Ayah fleeing with the children to the hills?

7. What is the purpose of the personification of the "freezing" at the end of the story?

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

9. What role did Azzie's bar play in Chato's development?

10. Why did Ayah feel relieved that the wine and the government money were gone?

(see the answer keys)

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