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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. How long did Ayah cook Chato's meals and smile at him?
(a) 25.
(b) 40.
(c) 50.
(d) 35.

2. 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 the birthing stone.
(d) To her hogan for sleep.

3. Where were Ayah, Chato and their family living when the government car pulled up outside their home?
(a) In a hogan.
(b) A boxcar shack on the white man's ranch.
(c) In a teepee.
(d) In an apartment.

4. What reminds Ayah of tufts of wool at the beginning of the story?
(a) Flowers.
(b) Snow.
(c) Smoke
(d) Yarn.

5. During the last visit with the children, what did Danny struggle to do with Ayah?
(a) Hug.
(b) Play.
(c) Speak Navajo.
(d) Work.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does warming herself by the fire make Ayah feel?

2. What is trapped in Ayah's hair as she moves through the bar?

3. What point of view is the story told from?

4. When Ayah thinks back to the times she spent with her two children, what does she think happened?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Although Ayah doesn't cry at first, she "hurts inside with anger". What does this mean and how does it fuel her anger toward the white man?

3. Why does Silko make a point of stating that the white doctors came before they hire Navajo women to go with them as interpreters?

4. What is the significance of Jimmie's old Army blanket to Ayah?

5. What is the purpose of Ayah remembering Jimmie's birth in the opening scene?

6. What was the purpose of Ayah sleeping in the hills after the children are taken?

7. How is losing Danny and Ella "worse than if they died" to Ayah?

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

9. 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?

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

(see the answer keys)

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