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

2. Where did Ayah escape to after she lost her last two children?

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

4. What season does the setting take place in?

5. What metaphor does Silko use to compare the snowflakes to as they enter the bar?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why does Ayah point out that Chato speaks both English and Spanish during the scene with the Army official? Why is this important?

3. Why does Ayah hate the information that Chato told her it was the old woman who died in the winter that gave the children a disease?

4. 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?

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

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

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

8. 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?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why does Silko end Ayah's and Chato's lives in the manner she does? Do you find this method effective ending? Why or why not? Use fact details from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Throughout Lullaby, there is a constant clash between Navajo and Anglos. In what ways are both sides misunderstood and which are deliberate? Use the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

How does life and death intermix in Ayah's life? What role do they play in her connection with her people, her culture, and her family? Use fact details from the text to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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