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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "Ode to the Beloved's Hips," what techniques are employed in the line "Swing switch sway. Hold the day away a little" (37)?
(a) Alliteration and internal rhyme.
(b) Internal rhyme and onomatopoeia.
(c) Onomatopoeia and blank verse.
(d) Blank verse and alliteration.

2. In "The First Water Is the Body," what river does the author specifically discuss?
(a) The Blackfoot River.
(b) The Colorado River.
(c) The Salmon River.
(d) The Green River.

3. In "Waist and Sway," what causes the beloved to have a "honeyed" appearance?
(a) Streetlights.
(b) A fire's glow.
(c) Candlelight.
(d) Lamplight.

4. In "It Was the Animals," where does the speaker's brother claim to have gotten a piece of the ark?
(a) "The girl" (59).
(b) "The walls" (59).
(c) ""The wood" (59).
(d) "The walkway" (59).

5. In "It Was the Animals," what does the speaker's brother tell her she can read about on the wood he has found?
(a) The true story of Creation.
(b) The "rules" for getting into Heaven.
(c) The secret names of God.
(d) The end of the world.

6. In "My Brother, My Wound," to what does the speaker's brother compare her wound?
(a) Jesus's wounds.
(b) Open mouths.
(c) A rose garden.
(d) Holes in the desert.

7. In "Grief Work," where does the speaker say she has done her "grief work" (94)?
(a) Through her own wounds.
(b) In the Colorado River.
(c) At the edge of the reservation.
(d) With the beloved's body.

8. In "Snake-Light," what is the rhetorical purpose of mentioning the butterflies?
(a) They symbolize transformation and the creation of life from death.
(b) They symbolize the lightness and freedom of shedding the body.
(c) They symbolize the lingering and then departure of the snake's spirit.
(d) They symbolize the beauty of the desert ecosystem.

9. In "The Cure for Melancholy Is to Take the Horn," the speaker mentions an "alcazar." What is an alcazar?
(a) A wine grape.
(b) A garden in the shape of a labyrinth.
(c) A type of Medieval castle.
(d) A poultice meant to sooth a wound.

10. In "I, Minotaur," what device is used in phrases like "love and what love becomes" and "appetite of your own appetite" (55)?
(a) Parallelism.
(b) Metonymy.
(c) Juxtaposition.
(d) Paradox.

11. In "Ode to the Beloved's Hips," what is a "traje de luces"?
(a) The flashy costumes worn by Mexican luchadores.
(b) The traditional clothing worn by Spanish bullfighters.
(c) The white robes worn by Catholic bishops.
(d) The many-colored coat worn by Joseph in the Bible.

12. In "I, Minotaur," what does the speaker call "lilac-lit pools of ablution" (57)?
(a) The beloved's thighs.
(b) The desert flowers.
(c) Her self-inflicted wounds.
(d) The light that she and her lover find together.

13. In "That Which Cannot Be Stilled," what are "our conquerors" compared to (44)?
(a) Horses.
(b) Jaguars.
(c) Bulls.
(d) Coyotes.

14. In "Top Ten Reasons Why Indians Are Good at Basketball," what nineteenth century America poet is mentioned?
(a) Paul Laurence Dunbar.
(b) Emily Dickinson.
(c) Walt Whitman.
(d) Louisa May Alcott.

15. In "Top Ten Reasons Why Indians Are Good at Basketball," who is mentioned as having stolen the Creator's heart?
(a) Coyote.
(b) Raven.
(c) Eagle.
(d) Rabbit.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "If I Should Come Upon Your House Lonely in the West Texas Desert," to whom does the speaker allude when she says "Each steaming bowl will be, Just right" (81)?

2. In "That Which Cannot Be Stilled," what does the speaker say can "make you clean" (42)?

3. In "Top Ten Reasons Why Indians Are Good at Basketball," what other Indian author is mentioned?

4. In "The Cure for Melancholy Is to Take the Horn," what does the speaker claim to have been changed into?

5. In "Top Ten Reasons Why Indians Are Good at Basketball," what does the speaker claim that Indian sweat smells like?

(see the answer keys)

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