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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. Cancer is seen as a great ________ to the Navajo people, caused by an evil action or evil deed.

2. The Navajo have no word for ________, which is a part of why it is so scary to them when it comes up.

3. __________ among the Navajo were challenging for some doctors, according to the book's description.

4. The main concern with cancer among the Navajo people is that they think it is _____________.

5. In which town is Carolyn visiting a clinic during the start of this particular chapter?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Alvord continue to celebrate her animal totem and her strong sense of self?

2. What are some of the roles that a woman may play within the matriarchal society of the Navajo?

3. What is the ancestral diet of the Navajo, according to Alvord?

4. What does Alvord find helps her in the education process, though she had not done well in previous biology courses?

5. What did Alvord know about the Night Chant, despite what her medical training taught her?

6. What was the background of one of Alvord's grandfathers, which allows her grandmother to understand Alvord's conflict?

7. What could the Navajo people not believe about the disease of cancer, as they had no word for it?

8. What does Alvord arrange for a cancer patient, Carolyn Yazzie, when she is diagnosed with breast cancer?

9. What does Gary Rosenberg encourage Alvord to do, though she had not considered it for herself before that time?

10. What do the Navajo first think when they become ill or sick with any kind of disease?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Carolyn's sister tells her that the cancer is all her fault, which might be shocking to some readers.

Part 1: Do you think that cancer is every anyone's fault? Why or why not?

Part 2: How do you think you would react if your sibling told you what Carolyn's sister told her?

Part 3: Why do you think Carolyn's sister felt she needed to tell her about the possible cause of her cancer?

Essay Topic 2

The Navajo people were deeply oppressed by others, causing them to have troubles handling their lives and their feelings about their lives.

Part 1: Why were the Navajo people oppressed by others?

Part 2: How might a people become oppressed by another group of people?

Part 3: Can the Navajo people change the way that others feel about them? Is this their job to do so?

Essay Topic 3

A medicine man is the one who realizes the cause of the unexplained deaths in the Navajo reservation.

Part 1: Why do you think no one else could determine the possible cause of the Navajo plague?

Part 2: How is it that the media didn't point out the help of the medicine man?

Part 3: Do you think anyone else would have been able to determine the cause of the plague?

(see the answer keys)

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