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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. On page 87 of "Snake-Light," why does the speaker's great-grandmother tell her they do not eat snakes?
(a) "They are our sisters."
(b) "They carry poison."
(c) "They keep out desert clean."
(d) "They teach us how to speak."

2. In "My Brother, My Wound," what does the speaker's brother say the word "canaries" really means?
(a) Sweet.
(b) Run.
(c) Dogs.
(d) Love.

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

4. In "Cranes, Mafiosos, and a Polaroid Camera," where is the speaker?
(a) Pratt, Kansas.
(b) Kearney, Nebraska.
(c) Iola, Kansas.
(d) Chadron, Nebraska.

5. In "Grief Work," what does the speaker say she is giving up?
(a) Her desire.
(b) Her culture.
(c) Her future.
(d) Her sorrow.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "My Brother, My Wound," to what does the speaker's brother compare her wound?

2. In "Snake-Light," the speaker mentions "caliche" (82). What is caliche?

3. In "Isn't the Air Also a Body, Moving?" what is anger said to be a demand for?

4. In "Ode to the Beloved's Hips," what techniques are employed in the line "Swing switch sway. Hold the day away a little" (37)?

5. In "I, Minotaur," what device is used in phrases like "love and what love becomes" and "appetite of your own appetite" (55)?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "Snake-Light," what comparison does the speaker make between snakes and writing?

2. In "The First Water Is the Body," what are the speaker's concerns about explaining to a non-Indian audience that for her people, the river and the body are one thing?

3. In "Waist and Sway," what temptation is the speaker trying to resist, and what is the outcome?

4. In "The Cure for Melancholy Is to Take the Horn," how does the speaker claim to have been wounded, and what does she say causes the "hurt" of the wound?

5. In "Top Ten Reasons Why Indians Are Good at Basketball," what is the double entente in the line, "as it rips down through the net, our enemies will fall to their wounded knees, with torn ACLs" (41)?

6. In "It Was the Animals," who comes to the speaker's house, and what is that person carrying?

7. In "exhibits from The American Water Museum," what is depicted in the "Photograph from a South American newspaper," and what is its significance?

8. In "The First Water Is the Body," what point does the speaker make about the limitations of words?

9. In "exhibits from The American Water Museum," what does the guidebook say?

10. In "Isn't the Air Also a Body, Moving?" what leads the speaker to call the train caboose the best part of a train?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 925 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample