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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 does Lame Bull grow on his land?

2. After hitching a ride to Havre with a woman, what stops the narrator from raping her the next morning?

3. In Malta, what subject does the narrator argue with the other hotel bar patrons about?

4. In the bar in Malta, why does the narrator lie to the bartender about knowing Lame Bull?

5. What is the name of the woman who gives the narrator a ride to Havre?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Lame Bull and Teresa return from Malta in Chapter Six, what is different about them and how does this change the direction of the plot?

2. Why does the narrator think Lame Bull has married his mother, and how does he feel about it?

3. Does the white traveling man give the narrator a positive or a negative example of how white men treat Native Americans? Why?

4. At the beginning of the book, how does the narrator feel about his life?

5. How does Lame Bull treat the narrator and how does it affect him?

6. Other than his family members, how does the narrator interact with women?

7. How does the narrator react to people who are not from the reservation?

8. When the narrator finally speaks with his girlfriend, how does the conversation go?

9. While herding cattle, what do Mose and the narrator decide to do that foreshadows a negative event?

10. After meeting with his girlfriend and being beaten, why does the narrator agree to drink with another woman?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the goal of the main character? Toward the end of the novel, does the narrator accomplish his goal? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Numerous times throughout the story, the narrator has to remind different characters of his age. How does this necessity contribute to the main character's difficulties? Why does he sometimes have to remind himself that he is thirty-two-years-old?

Essay Topic 3

Why, in the entire novel, is the name of the narrator never revealed? How does this contribute to the overall theme of the book? What is a possible name for the narrator?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 902 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample