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| Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. In "The Name Means Thunder," why is David at school while Paige is having her baby?
2. In "Smokes Last," what is the answer to the security question David answers for Western Union?
3. In "Half-Life," what is David covered in when he flees his grandmother's house?
4. In "Night of the Living Rez," how old is David?
5. In "Half-Life," what color does David find his hands are stained?
Short Essay Questions
1. In "Earth, Speak," why is Fellis so angry at Daryl?
2. In "Safe Harbor," what is written on the clinic's whiteboard, and what is David's reaction?
3. In "Smokes Last," how do the events taking place in David's life parallel the events in Frick's stories from his youth, and what is the significance of this parallel?
4. In "The Name Means Thunder," what is ambiguous about Bedogi's manner of death, and why?
5. In "Earth, Speak," how does David's mother respond when she realizes that it is him in her boiler room?
6. In "The Name Means Thunder," how does David's mother's behavior change once Bedogi is in the house?
7. In "Safe Harbor," when David is discussing his and his mother's trauma, what cryptic comment hints to the reader that he has yet to reveal some major source of trauma?
8. In "The Name Means Thunder," how does Paige's window screen end up playing an important role in the plot?
9. In "Smokes Last," what is the rhetorical function of the grilled cheese burning?
10. In "Smokes Last," what story does Frick tell about shooting in his childhood, and how does it reinforce a motif in the way he relates to David?
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
Now that you have finished the collection, you have seen many more instances of the ideas of "medicines." Choose one kind of "medicine" that recurs in these stories. You can choose anything that has the potential to be a source of healing--nature, ceremony, pharmaceuticals, human relationships, etc. Trace the impact of this form of medicine on David's life. As you structure your discussion, remember that the stories are not presented in chronological order, but that a clear discussion of this topic should be, tracing the impact of the medicine you have chosen from David's early life through to his adulthood and showing any changes over time. Support your discussion with evidence drawn from throughout the text, citing any quoted evidence in MLA format.
Essay Topic 3
How does the physical business with coffee in the story "Safe Harbor" convey David's inability to find comfort in the world? Why does it matter that he is having coffee with his mother in this story? How does coffee figure into the story's conclusion? What are some of the associations that a reader might be expected to bring to the idea of coffee--what age are the people who generally drink it, how is it supposed to make them feel, and so on? Write an essay that describes the role that coffee plays in the story and analyzes its significance. Support your assertions with evidence from throughout the story, citing any quoted evidence in MLA format.
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This section contains 1,379 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) |
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