"The Medicine Bag" Selection Test

In "The Medicine Bag," how does Grandpa arrive at the narrator's home?

• He is driving an old, dust-covered car.

• He is riding in the back of an old pickup truck.

• He is traveling to the narrator's home in a police car.

• He is walking down the street with dogs following him.

In "The Medicine Bag," why does Grandpa say he has arrived for a surprise visit with the family?

• He wants to see where his only existing descendants live, and he wants to give Martin the medicine bag.

• He feels that death is now very near, and he wants to be buried where his only existing relatives live.

• He wants to teach his grandchildren lessons that will help them respect the old ways.

• He wants to see his family in person to discuss the resentment he has felt for years.

In "The Medicine Bag," why does Grandpa collapse after arriving at the house?

• He has been injured in an attack by dogs.

• He is shocked by life in the suburbs.

• He is overcome with grief.

• He has heat exhaustion.

As Grandpa explains in “The Medicine Bag,” the medicine bag is to be passed down (a)   from generation to generation.

• only through chiefs
• only through males
• only through females
• only through firstborn children

In “The Medicine Bag,” why is the pouch referred to as a medicine bag?

• It holds rocks that carry magical energy.

• It holds leaves that can overcome sickness.

• It holds items that protect and guide the wearer.

• It holds powders needed in the work of a Lakota shaman.

Which of the following words gives the most likely meaning of wearily as it is used in this sentence? After a ten-mile hike, we ate an early dinner and then climbed wearily into our tents.

• sadly

• tiredly

• playfully

• carefully

If Kris asks a question sheepishly, how does she ask it?

• in a bold way

• in a clever way

• in an annoying way

• in an embarrassed way

Which person best demonstrates the meaning of frail?

• a. a famous athlete signing autographs

• b. a sickly person being helped up the stairs

• c. a shopper complaining about poor service in a store

• d. a middle-school student taking high-school math classes

The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B. Part A: In “The Medicine Bag,” before Grandpa comes to visit, how does the narrator feel about talking to his friends about his Lakota grandfather?

• a. He makes fun of how Grandpa dresses and where he lives to amuse his friends.

• b. He becomes angry when the other children make fun of Grandpa’s heritage.

• c. He likes the fact that his stories about Grandpa appeal to the other kids.

• d. He never reveals to his friends that Grandpa is a Lakota.

Part B: Which quotation from “The Medicine Bag” best supports the answer to Part A?

• a. He was my great-grandfather, and he didn’t live in a tipi; he lived all by himself in a part log, part tar-paper shack on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.

• b. Our friends, who had always lived in the city and only knew about Indians from movies and TV, were impressed by our stories.

• c. He taught me a Lakota chant to sing while I beat the drum with a leather-covered stick that had a feather on the end.

• d. We never showed our friends Grandpa’s picture.