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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. While digging his grandmother's grave, what memory does the narrator recall?

2. After several hard days in Havre, who does the narrator decide he has had enough of?

3. After his horse falls, what does the narrator wonder about his brother and father?

4. After returning from Havre and bathing, who does the narrator find is still on the ranch with him?

5. Before his grandmother's funeral, what does the narrator decide to take on his visit to Yellow Calf?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Lame Bull gives the eulogy for the old woman, what is it like?

2. While the narrator is digging his grandmother's grave, what does he remember about his father?

3. After the old woman's death, the narrator walks out on the plains alone to think. What significant event occurs while he is out there?

4. In Chapter 36, before Mose dies, what is the mood of the story?

5. When the narrator sees the white man arrested, how is he treated by the other bar patrons?

6. After the narrator spends several days in Havre, what does he finally want to do, and why?

7. How is the narrator treated by the people who give him a ride home from Havre, and how is that typical of his experiences with outsiders?

8. When the narrator walks out on the plains after his grandmother's death, what does he tell Old Bird?

9. When the narrator nearly dies in Chapter 42, what does he suddenly understand about dying?

10. When the narrator goes out to visit Yellow Calf the second time, how is his visit significant to the story?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

What differences can be pinpointed in the narrator before his brother's death, and after? Besides his age, what has changed in the behavior of the narrator since he was twelve-years-old?

Essay Topic 3

At the end of the book, the narrator attempts to rescue a cow and ends up nearly dying. How does this affect his outlook on life? Does that ordeal change him or does he remain unfeeling like he did at the beginning of the story?

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