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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. Why does Leaphorn miss Emma particularly at this moment?

2. What does Fleck want to photograph?

3. How is Highhawk killed?

4. For what is Fleck still searching?

5. What shocks Chee near the museum entrance?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the conversation between Leroy and Delmar Fleck.

2. What does Fleck read in the newspaper about Cardona and about the man Fleck murders in the desert?

3. What is the possible history of the Inca mask of the god Viracocha?

4. What does Leaphorn observe about the handwriting on papers in the victim's luggage and what does he realize about one of the papers?

5. Who does Fleck follow to the Smithsonian?

6. What has Fleck done to the nursing home director and why?

7. What lesson does Fleck remember from his childhood?

8. What does Chee conclude about the Yeibichai mask and how does he come to that conclusion?

9. What does the man who was the conductor on the Amtrak train which stopped in the desert in New Mexico tell Joe Leaphorn?

10. How does Fleck's childhood lesson serve him while he is in prison and as a hired killer?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Titles often play a vital role in making a person decide to read a particular book. Discuss the following:

1. Fully explain why you think Talking God is titled as such. Do you think it is the best title for the book? Why or why not? Can you think of a better title? Why would you choose it?

2. How important is a title in influencing you to consider reading a book? Explain your answer.

3. Do you think a title needs to have direct relevance to a book's content? Explain your answer.

4. Have you ever read a book that when you finished, you do not understand the relevance of the title? Does it discourage you from "trusting" that particular author again?

Essay Topic 2

There are a number of themes that run as a thread throughout the novel. 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. Trace the development of the theme of stolen artifacts. Use specific examples to illustrate how this theme is expressed. Analyze the examples and offer an analysis of how the idea of stolen artifacts informs the entire novel.

2. Trace the development of the theme of greed. Use specific examples to illustrate how this theme is expressed. Analyze the examples and offer an analysis of how greed seems to be more a part of the predominant culture of the United States versus that of the Navajo Indians.

3. Trace the development of the theme of violence. Use specific examples to illustrate how this theme is expressed. Analyze the examples and offer an analysis as to why this theme is central to the novel's plot.

Essay Topic 3

In chapter 4, Officer Chee is watching dancers prepare for the Yeibichai or Night Chant ceremony. Discuss the following

1. Research some Navajo rites or initiation ceremonies and describe them and give your thoughts about them.

2. What do you think is the purpose of ceremonies for the common events in human life (such as birth, death, marriage, etc.)?

3. Has Native American culture influenced some aspect of the predominant culture of the United States? How? Give examples and discuss fully.

(see the answer keys)

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