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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. At the beginning of Chapter 15, what animal does Matt successfully kill with his bow and arrow?

2. When Matt finally finishes telling the story of Robinson Crusoe to Attean, what does Attean say?

3. As Matt and Attean take leave of each other, who does Matt say he would like Attean's grandfather to meet?

4. What kind of story did Attean's story of Great Spirit make Matt think of?

5. When Matt and Attean are hiking in the woods, they come upon a trap. Of what is the trap made?

Short Essay Questions

1. Attean tells Matt that it is the white man who introduced metal traps to the Indians. What does the trap symbolize to Attean?

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

3. As Matt misses his family and Christmas nears, how do his memories work for him?

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

5. What does Matt do at the end of Chapter 24 that suggests he has adequately prepared for winter?

6. When Attean takes Matt around to see the Indian women working, why is this work of such interest to Matt and of little interest to Attean?

7. How do the setting and details that the author uses to describe autumn work to match Matt's mood when he recognizes that his family is past due?

8. How does Saknis receive Matt's declining the invitation to go on the hunt with his people?

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

10. Matt gets considerable reassurance of his acceptance in Chapter 22 when Attean renews his invitation to Matt to join them to find a new hunting ground. How does Matt's response please and simultaneously disappoint Attean?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss whether the conflict of man against man or man against nature is the framework for the basic conflict in The Sign of the Beaver.

Essay Topic 2

The wilderness is the setting of the novel, The Sign of the Beaver. In this novel, the wilderness is more than a backdrop for the action; it is a force. Discuss how the wilderness as it is described various times in the novel has the power to challenge, to motivate, to please, and to frighten characters. Use at least three specific examples from the text to show the role the wilderness plays in this novel.

Essay Topic 3

What is the role of women in Attean's village? What does Attean say about women that help the reader understand his view of women in a community?

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