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 method does the Mexican ex-bronco rider use to quiet Tom Black Bull's life for a few hours?

2. How many baskets does Bessie Black Bull trade for an ax, ammunition, a hunting knife, and candy at Jim Thatcher's store?

3. In addition to assisting ewes and lambs through the difficulty of birth, Tom Black Bull helps protect against what?

4. The circle the stars make is juxtaposed to the squareness of what?

5. What does Tom Black Bull do when Benny Grayback locks him in a room?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the 'old ways' Bessie Black Bull teaches Tom as they escape Pagosa and flee into Horse Mountain to link up with her husband, George?

2. In Chapter 28, what is it that the reader learns has changed for Red Dillon and Tom Black Bull upon going back to Colorado?

3. How is Tom Black Bull introduced to his moneymaking skills in Chapter 21?

4. How does Tom Black Bull manage as he rides the rodeo circuit the summer following Red Dillon's death?

5. What happens when Jim Woodward offers Tom Black a winter job a second time?

6. Following a number of days tracking the bear, what does Tom Black locate on Bald Mountain's first bench?

7. What transpires during Tom Black Bull's discussion with the doctor following Meo's passing?

8. How do Tom Black Bull and his parents prepare for the winter on Horse Mountain?

9. What does Tom Black do when the bear rushes from the brush and kills the lamb?

10. What happens when Tom Black Bull encounters his bear cub the next spring at the reservation school boundaries?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The first horse Tom Black Bull rode to death was in his initial rodeo in Aztec. The last was in Madison Square Garden. What is Tom's violence directed against? Why does he take his violence out on the horses? What does Red Dillon represent? What does Tom become more like as he gives in progressively to his violence?

Essay Topic 2

Tom Black Bull has a difficult time making the transition into the white man's way at the reservation school. They attempt to turn Tom into a farmer by teaching him plowing skills. Why is this unsuccessful? What is Tom's view of the usefulness of plowing and planting skills?

Essay Topic 3

For a period in each of their lives, both George Black Bull and Tom are outlaws, but each is a different type of outlaw. George is an outlaw for killing a man. What are his reasons? What type of outlaw is Tom? Why does he do what he does? Compare and contrast the two.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,302 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample