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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 do Victor and Junior do after the show?

2. What type of songs does Thomas say the band needs?

3. What does Thomas tell the band after he talks to the bar owner?

4. How many generations has Big Mom seen come and go?

5. Why does Robert need a particular woman on the reservation?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do Thomas, Victor and Junior decide to do when Victor and Junior come over to Thomas' house?

2. What does Chess ask Thomas about religion and how does Thomas respond?

3. What does the man who Thomas meets at an intersection on the reservation first say to Thomas?

4. What does the guitar do about Thomas singing to Chess, and what does Chess eventually do?

5. What do Thomas and the two sisters do the night they find his father in the yard?

6. How does Checkers end up getting injured at Thomas' house?

7. What does Thomas do with the guitar Johnson left in his van and what do Victor and Junior say to Thomas about the guitar? What do they do to the guitar?

8. What happens with the guitar and Thomas the night he plays for Victor and Junior?

9. What happens when the band first arrives at Flathead Reservation and what happens about time there?

10. What does David Walks Along find when he returns to his office from the band rehearsal and what does the band do when they hear his news?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The narrative in Chapter 4 switches back and forth between the present and the past when Thomas' father, Samuel, played basketball with the tribal police. The incident with the police shows in many ways how some reservation residents resent any member of the tribe that succeeds. While some reservation residents engage in almost hero worship of one who excels, plenty of others seem to feel jealousy to the point of hatred.

1. Why do you think some poor people might get jealous of people from their circumstances doing well? Use examples from your own life and the text to support your answer.

2. What do you think is the differences in the people who hero worship someone who has done well as opposed to ones who are angry or hateful towards that person? Use examples from your own life and the text to support your answer.

3. Why do you think the police became violent when playing ball with Samuel? Use examples from your own life and the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Characters are an important part of what makes "Reservation Blues" interesting. Discuss the following:

1. Thoroughly discuss and analyze Thomas. What are his strengths? His weaknesses? How does he contribute to the plot? Is he a sympathetic character? Is he always likable? Never likable? Use specific examples to illustrate your ideas.

2. Thoroughly discuss and analyze the character of Chess. What are her strengths? Her weaknesses? How does she contribute to the plot? Is she a sympathetic character? Is she ever likable? Never likable? Use specific examples to illustrate your ideas.

3. Thoroughly discuss and analyze the character of Junior. What are his strengths? His weaknesses? How does he contribute to the plot? Is he a sympathetic character? Is he ever likable? Never likable? Use specific examples to illustrate your ideas.

Essay Topic 3

The two men from the record company have the same names as the generals in Junior's dream, and these men were actual figures. Both Wright and Sheridan seem to be the same men that could have been generals in the late nineteenth century, but the band members seem unaware of the similarities. They also seem to be unaware of the strange coincidence in the record company's name of Cavalry Records. Any doubt for the reader that these men are actually Generals Wright and Sheridan is removed after the conversation with Mr. Armstrong, possibly General George Armstrong Custer, when the men share a drink from a very old flask.

1. Why do you think the band members are unaware of who Sheridan and Wright might be? Use examples from your own life and the text to support your answer.

2. Although Wright and Sheridan forced Native Americans onto reservations in the nineteenth century, George Custer was defeated by the Indians. What do you think the symbolism is with Custer being the head of the record company? Use examples from your own life and the text to support your answer.

3. How does the incidences of the supernatural in this story affect the readers' identification with the characters as far as being believable enough to feel empathy with the characters? Use examples from your own life and the text to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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