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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. Who arrives in New Mexico at the beginning of this chapter?

2. How is Joanna able to invoke the attorney-client privilege?

3. What does Cowboy Dashee want Joe to do?

4. What does Chandler do for a living?

5. What is possibly foreshadowed at the end of this chapter?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do you think the discussion of Kiva and Native American rites are included in Chapter 8?

2. In a mystery, every sentence offers clues, either about the case or about the characters that are part of the case; what does the reader learn early on about Joe Leaphorn from one sentence?

3. Why do you think Fred Sherman, an ex-cop, is introduced as another "bad" guy?

4. At this point in the story, do you believe it when Joanna says that she seeks only her father's arm to end his pain in the afterlife and is not interested in the diamonds?

5. How is the story about Cat an allegory for what Chee has encountered in his life?

6. Why do you think Hillerman stereotypes characters such as Chandler and Plymale, making them one-dimensional?

7. What allusion to the allegory of Cat story is contained in Chapter 13?

8. What do you think is the main purpose of this short chapter?

9. There are several inconsistencies in Chapter 13; name one of them.

10. How is a Caucasian woman from New York related to a case that takes place on Navajo lands in New Mexico?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Chapter 2, Joe reflects on his boredom since retirement, upon the idea of mortality, and at having lost some many friends to that mortality. Choose one of the following and write a well-developed, cohesive essay using examples from the text and your research or personal experience:

1. What do you think are the causes of Joe's boredom? Do you think he is so one-sided that he cannot find other things that interest him besides police work? Do you think that is psychologically healthy? Do you know of anyone who after retiring seems to mope around and is bored? Explain their situation. What would you say to them? Would you say the same to Joe?

2. The old Shaman man seems to never have retired from his "job" as Shaman--not until he dies. The Shaman is what is job is--in other words, if you ask him who he is, he might reply "I am the Shaman for the tribe." If you ask him what he does, he would probably say the same thing. Western culture tends to separate who one is with what one does; whereas, aboriginal cultures blur the boundaries more. Compare and contrast the two ways of identification. State possible advantages and disadvantages of both ways.

3. It is an oft-recorded phenomenon that some men (and occasionally women) will retire and then die fairly soon thereafter, even if they are healthy when they retire. Discuss this idea fully giving your thoughts about it as well as researching the idea and presenting what experts say.

Essay Topic 2

In Chapter 12, Louisa says she heard many new myths mixed with the old ones, about bodies and things falling out of the sky from the plane collision. She notes that such modern "contamination" of ancient myths is the bane of anthropologists everywhere. Choose one of the following questions and write a well-developed, cohesive essay using examples from the text and your research or personal experience:

1. What are some of the Hopi and Navajo myths and how do they attempt to explain situations in the lives of the Native Americans?

2. Does the white American culture have its own myths? What's the difference between a myth and an urban legend? Why are there not perhaps as many myths in white culture as in the Native American culture? Do you think cultures who are not Christian see the story of Jesus as a myth?

3. Does your family have any of its own myths? Sometimes an anecdote that is old enough takes on the proportions of a myth. Are there any such anecdotes in your family history that has done so? What about in your community? Are myths necessary in this modern world?

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 9, Chee is reflecting on his past, particularly upon his past romantic relationships. A story he things about concerns "Cat," a domesticated cat. The story about Cat might be considered an allegory. Answer the following questions by writing a well-developed, cohesive essay using examples from the text and your research or personal experience:

1. What is an allegory? What is the purpose of the Cat allegory?

2. Why do you think an author might use an allegory to express a concept or idea? Do you think the Cat allegory is effective?

3. Are there any other allegories in the novel? What about the story Sam Pinto tells in Chapter 1? Could this be an allegory about how the white man has ruined the environment?

(see the answer keys)

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