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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. Who recognizes that Tom Black Bull and his pet bear are no threat when they arrive in town one July, and manages to calm the townsfolk?

2. What does the bear cub that Tom Black Bull takes care of represent?

3. What is George Bull's demeanor when he arrives at the house following the fight?

4. When his plowing fails, Tom Black Bull is next set to task as what?

5. Blue Elk talks Tom Black Bull into doing what with the bear cub?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Tom Black lays asleep on prickly needles, what does he dream of?

2. What causes Tom Black's nightmares to cease?

3. What compels Tom Black back to Horse Mountain?

4. What happens when Tom Black Bull is locked in his room at the school and he begins to chant?

5. After Jim Woodward and the man Tom Black is relieving leave, what is Tom amazed by?

6. After returning to Pagosa following his injuries in New York, what does Tom Black recall when he enters Thatcher's Market?

7. How does Mary Redmond attempt to pressure herself into becoming a continuing part of Tom Black's rehabilitation?

8. How are the images of roundness of life contrasted with the white man's squareness?

9. What transpires during Tom Black's night ride at Madison Square Garden?

10. What causes Tom Black to change his plans again when Woodward collects his sheep for the winter?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does the introductory poem summarize? What about the American Indians' demise? What about the troubled course of this story's main character into manhood?

Essay Topic 2

Roundness of life is a significant theme in this story. It unfolds through Bessie Black Bull, who maintains the 'old ways' and instructs them to Tom. What is it the reader learns to look for with this theme? How does the concept of continuation within all life tie in with this 'roundness' theme? Detail the method Bessie uses to teach this intrinsic truth concerning nature.

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 42, Tom accepts a simple job of shepherding when he comes back to Pagosa to recover. When he is alone with the sheep, what is he surprised by? What are the memories that flood back? How does he adjust to the simple life as he recuperates and makes plans to return to the rodeo?

(see the answer keys)

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