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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. In "In a Field of Stray Caterpillars," where does David say he met Tabitha?

2. In "The Blessing Tobacco," why does David hurry to fill his grandmother's wood box?

3. In "Food for the Common Cold," what is the name of the child in the pictures David's mother finds?

4. In "The Blessing Tobacco," what is David's mother too preoccupied with to notice that David is feeling sick?

5. What does David imagine the store owner, Jim, making a joke about?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "In a Field of Stray Caterpillars," what does David point to as the beginning of the breakdown in his relationship with Tabitha?

2. In "Get Me Some Medicine," what is Fellis's ostensible issue with Meekew, and what does the story imply is his real issue?

3. In "Burn," why was David's first trip into town to get marijuana unsuccessful?

4. In "Get Me Some Medicine," what details demonstrate that David's friendship with Fellis does not blind David to Fellis's faults?

5. In "The Blessing Tobacco," when David is feeling sick, how does Paige demonstrate her concern and affection?

6. In "Get Me Some Medicine," which behaviors of Fellis's indicate that he has a habit of blaming others for his problems?

7. What irritates David about the questions the hospital staff keeps asking him while he is waiting for Fellis in "In a Field of Stray Caterpillars"?

8. In "In a Jar," what does David's mother tell him about Goog'ooks?

9. In "Burn," what point about economic realities on the reservation does David make as he steps in the boot prints along the sidewalk on his way home?

10. In "In a Field of Stray Caterpillars," how does Alice end up at Beth's house?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Meekew appears first in "Get Me Some Medicine," but this is not his only appearance in the stories in Night of the Living Rez. He appears again in "Half-Life." Is his characterization in this story consistent with his characterization in the earlier story? Does he play a similar role? How does his appearance in "Half-Life" augment what the reader already knows about him? How does having read many stories about David's life in between these two appearances impact the reader's reaction to Meekew? In retrospect, is the vicious beating Fellis gives Meekew in "Get Me Some Medicine" more or less shocking after reading more stories about David and Fellis? Write an essay that takes and defends a position on Talty's purpose in bringing Meekew back into the collection in "Half-Life." Support your assertions with evidence drawn from both stories. Cite all quoted evidence in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

Does the whiteness of the snow and ice in "Burn" matter? Is this story indicting the conditions on the reservation that result from White interference in Native life? Or does it matter more that the snow is a cold, frozen obstacle--a static "trap" that communicates something about the way Natives can be "frozen" and "trapped" in old traditions and ways of thinking? Now that you have read the entire collection, which interpretation of the snow in "Burn" seems most correct to you? Write an essay in which you take and defend a position about what the snow represents. You can choose either interpretation--or both--to defend, as long as your argument is thoroughly supported with evidence from "Burn" and from at least two other stories in the collection. Cite any quoted material in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

Given the events in the stories in this collection, it is clear that there are drawbacks to being a member of David's family, and that intergenerational trauma has a negative impact on his life. But what are the strengths of this family and of the tradition to which they belong? How might David's life have been diminished and his outcomes been worse if the family did not have these strengths to draw on? Write an essay that demonstrates that David's family and community pass on more than trauma to the younger generation. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the story, citing any quoted evidence in MLA format.

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