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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 24, Mat gazes up to the sky and talks to the dog. What does he talk about?

2. Before Attean leaves Matt, what gift does Attean give Matt?

3. Who is Gluskabe?

4. What is Attean permitted to eat during his stay alone in the forest?

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

2. What is the conflict Matt faces when Saknis invites him to come along on the hunt with his people as Attean's brother?

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

4. How does Matt's reaction to the cleanup being relegated to squaws indicate that he is more accepting of cultural differences?

5. How does such a violent act as killing a bear bring Matt and Attean into a relationship that for the first time seems like a friendship?

6. In spite of Attean not being in high spirits, he visits Matt shortly before his manitou. What is the significance of this visit at this time?

7. Why is it ironic that Matt wonders how the Great Spirit that the Indians worship seem to be like the Indians themselves--i.e. a mighty hunter, very strong?

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

9. 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?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

The road to friendship is a gradual sometimes--especially when there is mistrust and resentment. How does Matt overcome his mistrust of Attean? How does Attean overcome his resentment of white people?

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