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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. When the children visited for the last time, why did Ayah not say goodbye?
(a) Because she forgot.
(b) Because she turned away from them.
(c) Because they didn't understand her.
(d) Because they didn't say goodbye to her.

2. What did Ayah do by signing her name that she didn't realize until later?
(a) She gave permission for her two children to be adopted.
(b) She gave permission for her two children to be removed from her care.
(c) She denied permission for herself to receive benefits.
(d) She denied permission for Chato to work.

3. Ayah remembers that when Ella came to visit, she used to____.
(a) Hide behind the white woman.
(b) Sit down by the fire.
(c) Hide behind the white man.
(d) Nuzzle close to her like she does when she is a baby.

4. According to Ayah, what makes the government worker frightened?
(a) Ayah's anger.
(b) The rural landscape on the reservation.
(c) The foreign items and Navajo language being spoken.
(d) Chato's scarred hands.

5. Where does Ayah remember her mother taking her after the birth of her oldest son?
(a) To the elder.
(b) To an oracle.
(c) To her hogan for sleep.
(d) To the birthing stone.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Chato often disappear at the beginning of the month?

2. Ayah remembers what types of items in the black pot that are used for dying wool?

3. When Danny and Ella came to visit, whom does Ayah remember came with them?

4. What does the main character wear when thinking of her children?

5. Why does the air burn Ayah's lungs while she walks?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Ayah not say good-bye to Danny and Ella during the last visit?

2. What does the statement, "...in the springtime the thin cows graze on grass already chewed flat to the ground" symbolize to the Navajo culture during the time in which Ayah is living?

3. What does Ayah recognize about Chato's drinking?

4. When Ayah openly accuses the whites of lying, why does Chato's words, "It's too late now", symbolic of the white and Native American relationships of the past?

5. 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?

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

7. Why does thinking about weaving bring Ayah peace during the first scene of the story?

8. Why was the blonde woman afraid of when she brought Ella and Danny back to visit Ayah?

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

10. Why did the men in the bar remind Ayah of the first time white people brought Danny and Ella back?

(see the answer keys)

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