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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. What must a boy care for even above his loved ones in the group?

2. What do the women use as pulling sleds?

3. What migrating animal do The People follow?

4. What does Sa' have in sufficient quantity for both of them?

5. Which part of society do The People feed first?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the first tasks the women must do to prepare their shelter at the fish camp?

2. Why do the two old women take care not to work too hard in the cold?

3. Why do the two women boil the squirrel meat and drink the broth rather than eating the meat?

4. How do the two old women make sleds to pull their possessions?

5. Why are the two women feeling worse when they wake up at their new campsite in Chapter 4, "A Painful Journey"?

6. What gets the two old women up in the middle of the night on the first night after their abandonment?

7. Where do the two old women decide to go when they feel they cannot remain in the camp where they have been abandoned?

8. How does Sa' kill a squirrel?

9. How is the two old women's shelter made?

10. Why is the winter in which this story takes place more dangerous for The People than other winters?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

"The land was easy for me to live on, and now it seems not to want me." "Sa' marveled at the power the land held over the people, the animals, and even the plants." Write an essay discussing the power that the land holds over the people in the story. How and why are their lives controlled by the physical setting in which they live?

Essay Topic 2

The word "beautiful" is used by many reviewers of this story. In your essay, use quotations to explain why it has been called beautiful; include your own opinion as to whether it is a beautiful story or not. Are the reviewers talking about the setting? The language? The message? Support your idea with details from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Ms. Wallis contends that those who write about a culture but are not part of it often misinterpret or misrepresent the culture. In your essay, explain why this story could or could not have been recorded by a member of a different culture. Explain your reasoning.

(see the answer keys)

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