View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What protects Shruh Zhuu when he freely voices his opinions as a child?

2. What clears Sa's head when she wakes up each morning?

3. What is the result of returning circulation to Sa's legs?

4. How do the women know they are traveling in the right direction?

5. What does Sa's mind tell her body she must do when her body insists that they rest for a day?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What has hardship taught the two women and failed to teach the two women about each other?

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

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

5. What are the discomforts that the women notice most as they travel?

6. What good deed have The People done for the two women as they leave them behind?

7. How does the group react to the chief's announcement that the two old women would be left behind?

8. What slows the two old women's progress when they wake up on the second day of travel?

9. Why does Sa' smile when Chi'idzigyaak notices that they have arrived at the creek, but are on the wrong side?

10. Why do the two old women feel "almost superstitious" about their good luck in hunting?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At the beginning of the story, the old women thought themselves incapable of change. Their constant complaining had led them and those around them to believe that they were useless. Did the women bring about their own abandonment by the attitude they displayed over the years? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Velma Wallis said, "Stories are gifts given by an elder to a younger person." Is this story one that you would want to keep and share with others in your own life? In your essay, retell the story in your own words. Explain why you do or do not think it is a gift you would want to share.

Essay Topic 3

The style of this book has been described as "simple," "humble," "lean," and "muscular." In your essay, find instances from the story to support these descriptions and explain why this style is or is not appropriate to the setting of the tale itself.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 917 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample