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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. What does Vines tell Chee to do with his check if Chee can't accept it?

2. As Chee drives into the desert, for whose home is Chee looking?

3. What does the man who illegally parked his truck leave in the truck?

4. What award did B.J. Vines win for hunting?

5. What is Jim Chee studying to become?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Vines' attempt to remove Chee from the missing box investigation affect Chee?

2. As Chee drives into the desert, he is listening to songs his uncle wants him to memorize. Why does his uncle want Chee to memorize these songs?

3. Why had the peyote church been outlawed by the Tribal Council?

4. After Rosemary questions Chee on how well he knows Navajo "religion," what does Rosemary ask if Chee knows anything about?

5. Why does Wolf's employer send Wolf to the university campus?

6. As Chapter 8 opens, for what is Colton Wolf waiting?

7. Why does the Vines' house puzzle Jim Chee?

8. Describe the second person who illegally parks the car in the parking lot while the bacteriologist watches from her window.

9. Why is Tsoodzil important to the Navajos?

10. According to what Charley tells Chee, what is contained in the missing box?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast the characteristics, roles, loyalties, and agendas of the following people in the story: Jim Chee, Henry Becenti, Gordo Sena, and B.J. Vines.

Essay Topic 2

Hillerman uses this story to examine the role that truth plays in our daily lives. Examine the author's beliefs through his storytelling. Why would the author choose this story to overlay his demonstration of the consequences realized when the truth is distorted or hidden? What did you learn from the author's discussion on truth? What other avenues, if any, could the author have used to express his beliefs? Would those avenues have been as effective as the story? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

In many ways, the novel is a series of contrasts designed to heighten the reader's awareness and draw the reader deeper into the story and the intricacies of each of the story's characters. Identify at least three contrasts used in the novel. Describe these contrasts and determine how they affect the story's plot as well as the reader's emotional involvement in the characters' lives. If these identified contrasts were not included in the story, what effect would their absence have on the storyline, the characters' development, and the readers' involvement?

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