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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. With whom has the narrator been renewing his acquaintance since returning from Peru?

2. Who is David Long Eagle?

3. What does the narrator say he and Webber are pursuing?

4. Who is the next dreaming soul?

5. Who do the narrator and Webber think might have helped him?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens in the narrator's initial encounter with Maya?

2. What is the narrator doing when he encounters Maya again and what does she tell him? What do they do?

3. What does Williams see in his life review that also involves Long Eagle?

4. What does the narrator tell Maya about what he believes is her purpose and how does she react?

5. What does Long Eagle say about the valley in Chapter 1?

6. What kind of sound does Lipcomb and the narrator hear, what do they see, what does the narrator suggest and what is Lipcomb's response?

7. What does Wil say might be the reason no one fully understands the Tenth Insight?

8. What does Wil and the narrator become aware of in Maya's dream?

9. What does the narrator do first upon waking the next morning, how does he feel and what does he think about his injury?

10. What happens to the narrator as he is attempting to recall his dream vision and what does he learn about Maya?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

It could be argued that the point of the book is not to create a great work of literature, but to create a work of spiritual guidance, which would suggest that the actual writing contained between the book's covers needs to be serviceable, no more - to create the circumstances for the more important spiritual explanation. On that level, the writing and storytelling function adequately. In terms of that spiritual guidance, the main point to consider here and throughout the narrative is its essential nature, and the manifestations/explanations of that nature.

1. Do you think that a work of spiritual guidance can be both well written and enlightening? Explain your reasoning.

2. Argue for or against the idea that the writing in this book is mediocre. Use examples from the text to support your position.

3. Explain in detail, with examples, how the author might have been able to write a better story and still convey his ideas.

Essay Topic 2

In Chapter 6, and indeed throughout the novel, storytelling can clearly be seen as a function of thematic agenda - what happens happens because the author wants to make his philosophical point. This manifests here perhaps more blatantly and directly from other novels without such overt agendas, but at its core the purpose of storytelling remains the same no matter what story is being told - to awaken some sort of reaction and/or increased insight in the reader.

1. Explain, with examples why the first sentence above is true.

2. Why do you think a novel that overtly has an agenda would use most of the actions of the characters, the subplots, the behaviors and situations to advance that agenda more so than a typical novel.

3. Do you think the purpose of storytelling is the same no matter what story is being told - to awaken some sort of reaction and/or increased insight in the reader? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Is it stereotypical that insight into the human/animal relationship comes from a Native American character, who in many narratives is portrayed as having a "special" relationship with nature? Or is it archetypal? Might it not have more thematic weight and/or depth if the narrator had REALIZED it, rather than having it explained to him as he has had so many things, repetitively and almost tediously, explained to him/preached at him ... and therefore preached at the reader?

1. Is it stereotypical that insight into the human/animal relationship comes from a Native American character, who in many narratives is portrayed as having a "special" relationship with nature? Explain what you think this statements means with examples from this book and your own life and knowledge.

2. After researching the terms stereotype and archetype, argue for this area of the book to be one or the other. Use examples from the text to illustrate your points.

3. Explain why someone might learn something better and retain it longer if they had learned or researched it themselves rather than had someone tell them.

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