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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 is the next book that Matt has to get his adventures from?

2. What is suggested to Matt that will enable him to go on the hunt and not worry his father?

3. When Attean tells Matt that he and his family are leaving, what is the reason he gives Attean for their departure?

4. What does Matt throw at the bear?

5. What emotion does Matt imagine he sees in Attean's eyes?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Matt and Attean's use of each other's language symbolic of their relationship?

2. When Attean comes to say farewell, why does Matt to give Attean his father's watch and not the book?

3. What is the explanation for Attean not eating the bear and how does he seem to feel about this?

4. How does the celebration of the bear kill at Attean's village actually work to lessen friction over cultural differences?

5. What evidence is there that Matt's relationship with the Indians fulfilled a familial longing?

6. When Matt comes upon the Attean's dog in the trap, he knows he is in the land of the turtle and should not tamper with anything there. Why does he knowingly go against the law that Attean taught him?

7. After a day of hard play in the Indian village, Matt is physically sore but content. Explain these two apparently contradicting feelings.

8. Why is Matt "delighted" to know that Attean tells the story to his brothers?

9. Even though they are husband and wife, why do Saknis's feelings about the white man differ from the feelings of Attean's grandmother?

10. How is Matt's acceptance of the manitou indicative of his growing respect for the Indian culture?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Until Matt read Robinson Crusoe to Attean, it was just the story of an adventure. What does Matt himself learn from reading Robinson Crusoe through Attean's eyes? How does the book ultimately become an educational tool for Matt?

Essay Topic 2

The Sign of the Beaver is a piece of historical fiction. The basic dilemmas of Attean and his people were the dilemmas and tragedies of the native Americans in the times of westward expansion. What do you think of the author's decision to have Attean and his people leave before Matt's family could meet them?

Essay Topic 3

At the beginning of The Sign of the Beaver, Matt is a child in his father's care. Although he has learned the lessons his father and his parents have taught him, discuss the immature side of Matt and give examples of his behaviors or early relations with people that suggest that he is still a child.

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