Answer the following prompt in at least a 2-3 paragraph response with 4-5 sentences per paragraph. Be sure to answer ALL the parts of the original question and to provide plenty of examples from the novel to support your thinking.
Question: Hope and happiness, or the lack of hope and happiness, are big topics that are in this book. Do you think that the white people in Reardan are really any happier than the Indians living on the reservation? What is the biggest difference between people living in Reardan and people living on the reservation? Give some examples of how the issue of hope is presented in the novel.
Which of the following statements best describes Junior's sister Mary at the start of the novel?
A) Someone who is wasting her potential
B) Someone who is depressing to be around
C) Someone who works hard for what she wants
D) All of the above
Which of the following quotes from the novel proves that your answer to #1 is correct?
A) "'Mary was a bright and shining star," Mr. P said. "And then she faded year by year until you could barely see her anymore.'"
B) "I mean, my sister had become a humanoid underground dweller. There wasn't much romance in that. Or maybe there was. Maybe my sister read romances all day. Maybe she was trapped in those romances."
C) "I love the thought of reading my sister's books. I love the thought of walking into a bookstore and seenig her name on the cover of a big and beautiful novel."
D) All of the above are correct
What is Junior's real name?
A) Arnold Spirit
B) Aarav Spirit
C) Reyansh Spirit
D) Vihaan Spirit
How would you describe Junior's family's financial situation?
A) Inherited wealth
B) Self-made wealth
C) Middle class
D) Lower-income
E) Poor
Why does Junior throw a book at his teacher, Mr. P?
A) He thought that the class was boring
B) The book had information in it that Junior disagreed with
C) The book was so old that his mother used the exact same one
D) Mr. P said a rude comment toward Junior
Why does Junior's dad shoot his dog?
A) The dog was old and was going to die anyway, so Junior's dad wanted to put him out of his misery
B) Junior's parents don't have enough money to take the dog to the vet, and they don't want the dog to suffer
C) Junior asked his father to shoot the dog to end the dog's pain
D) None of the above are correct
What does the phrase "Kill the Indian to save the child" mean?
A) Indians will kill children, which is why the Europeans killed the Indians
B) If you have to choose between two people, choose the youngest
C) Destroying Indian culture is the best thing for Indian children
D) Native American Indians need to be exterminated
How does Mary leave the reservation after Junior decides to go to Reardan?
A) She marries Eugene and they move to Seattle
B) She marries a poker player and they move to Montana
C) She tours the country in a mobile home
D) She joins a traveling circus
In the novel, Junior's grandmother represents
A) tolerance and forgiveness
B) selfishness and cockiness
C) confidence and despair
D) alcoholism and tragedy
How does Penelope find out that Junior is poor?
A) Roger tells her
B) She infers that he is poor based on the way he dresses
C) She sees Junior walking the twenty-two miles home from school
D) Junior asks her to borrow money
Who gives Junior a ride home after the winter formal?
A) Earl
B) Junior's dad
C) Eugene
D) Roger
What does Billionaire Ted try to return to the Spirit family at Junior’s grandmother’s funeral?
A) A headdress
B) An elaborate quilt
C) War armor that belonged to her husband
D) A powwow dance outfit
Why does Eugene get shot in the face outside 7-Eleven?
A) He tries to intervene in a robbery
B) He’s shot by police who mistake him for a robber
C) He fights with his friend over a sip of wine
D) The clerk shoots him while he’s robbing the store
How does Junior find out Mary dies?
A) Miss Warren calls him out of class and tells him
B) Junior’s dad comes to get him out of school and tells him on the way home
C) Junior sees media coverage of the fire on the local news
D) Junior receives a call from Mary’s husband
Who does Junior run into in the woods during Mary’s funeral?
A) Gordy
B) Penelope
C) His mother
D) Rowdy
What is the outcome of Reardan’s successful basketball season?
A) The team wins the state playoffs
B) Roger gets recruited to play Division I basketball
C) The team looses to Wellpinit in the state championship
D) The team looses early in the state playoffs
What would Junior’s dad have been if he had more opportunity?
A) A renowned chef
B) A professional basketball player
C) A college professor
D) A jazz musician
According to Junior’s dad’s story, what happens after some Indians burn Stupid Horse’s body?
A) Stupid Horse’s ghost wanders the reservation at night
B) Turtle Lake catches on fire
C) Beaver Lake dries up
D) Turtle Lake freezes over
Why does Mr. P think that Junior should leave the reservation?
A) Everyone on the rez has given up
B) Junior will die if he stays on the rez
C) The rez is not teaching him anything worthwhile
D) All of the above statements are correct
Which of the following statements shows that Mr. P cares about Junior and his well-being?
A) "'And you're a bright and shining star, too," he said. "You're the smartest kid in the school. And I don't want you to fail. I don't want you to fade away. You deserve better.'"
B) "'You don't have to be sorry for anything," he said. "Well, you better be sorry for hitting me, but you don't have to feel bad about crying.'"
C) "'I know," he said. "And we let it happen. We let them pick on you.'"
D) All of the above are correct
Which of the following is a downside of going to school in Reardan?
A) It will be difficult to get there
B) Some people there are racist
C) Indians living on the rez will be angry
D) All of the above statements are correct
What is the upside or positive of going to school in Reardan?
A) It is one of the best large schools in the state
B) They have a very good sports program
C) Junior will be accepted there for who he is
D) Both A and B are correct
How does Junior gain respect from the "white jocks" at Reardan?
A) Junior beats them at a chess match
B) Junior teaches them his native language
C) Junior punches Roger, their leader, in the face
D) Junior answers a difficult question correctly in class
What does Rowdy do when Junior tells Rowdy he is leaving?
A) Rowdy gives Junior a bloody nose
B) Rowdy gives Junior a hug
C) Rowdy gives Junior advice on how to deal with racism
D) Rowdy gives Junior one of his favorite comic books
What does Junior do on Halloween?
A) Junior stays home and draws
B) Junior gets jumped by some of the white students at Reardan
C) Junior and Penelope trick or treat together
D) Junior dresses up as a homeless person and collects donations
Which of the following is NOTone of the ways Junior goes to and from school?
A) Driving himself
B) Walking
C) Hitchhiking
D) His parents drive him
What did Rowdy do for Junior after the Andruss Brothers jumped Junior?
A) Rowdy beat them up with his fists
B) Rowdy cut off their hair and shaved their eyebrows
C) Rowdy went to the police
D) Rowdy stole their car
Arnold's experiences with what become a testament to positive thinking?
A) Baseball
B) Basketball
C) Golf
D) Swimming
Junior handles life in a different way than most people. Junior’s differences include the following EXCEPT
A) He has seizures
B) He is both near-sighted and far-sighted
C) He has overcrowded teeth
D) He has different size feet
According to Junior's parents, who has the most hope?
A) Indians
B) White people
C) African-Americans
D) People who live on the reservation
How much money did Junior have on the night of winter formal?
A) He brought no money because he lost his wallet
B) He had $5
C) He had $40 his father saved for him
D) None of the above are correct
The boys at Reardan call Junior all of the following racial slurs EXCEPT
A) Squaw Boy
B) White Lover
C) Red Skin
D) Chief
Gordy and Junior have many things in common EXCEPT
A) Both are the only Native American Indians at Reardan
B) Both are intelligent
C) Both enjoy reading
D) Both don't have many friends at school
What is the Reardan school mascot?
A) Knight
B) Indian
C) Soldier
D) Patriot
What was Penelope’s biggest problem?
A) She is failing multiple classes at school
B) She, like Junior, is also poor
C) Her parents are going through a divorce
D) She is bulimic
Why does Junior say he was bullied as a child on the Spokane reservation?
A) He was friends with Rowdy
B) He was cowardly
C) He was bullied because of his complications from his disability (hydrocephalus)
D) He was bullied because he always stood up for his sister
How does the novel end?
A) Junior and Rowdy climb a giant tree
B) Junior and Rowdy swim in turtle lake
C) Junior and Rowdy play one-on-one
D) Rowdy slams the door in Junior’s face
Identify the person represented in the following quote:
"So I heard the boom of my father's rifle when he shot my best friend.”
A) Oscar
B) Rowdy
C) Junior
D) Gordy
E) Junior's dad
F) Mary
Identify the person represented in the following quote:
"Oh, she loved to write short stories. […] She wouldn't let anybody read them.”
A) Penelope
B) Junior's grandmother
C) Mary
D) Junior's mother
Identify the person represented in the following quote:
"[He] is the toughest kid on the Rez”.
A) Junior
B) Gordy
C) Earl
D) Rowdy
E) Oscar
Identify the person represented in the following quote:
“Everyone loved [him]. He was the best football player […]. It would’ve been un-American not to love the best football player."
A) Roger
B) Gordy
C) Earl
D) Rowdy
E) Oscar
Identify the person represented in the following quote:
"[He] was a racist."
A) Roger
B) Gordy
C) Earl
D) Mr. P
E) Eugene
F) Junior's dad
Identify the person represented in the following quote:
“Best of all, he taught me how to read.”
A) Junior's dad
B) Gordy
C) Roger
D) Mr. P
E) Earl
F) Oscar
Identify the person represented in the following quote:
“When I first started teaching here, that's what we did to the rowdy ones[…] We beat them."
A) Oscar
B) Roger
C) Gordy
D) Mr. P
E) Earl
F) Junior's dad
Identify the person represented in the following quote:
“[He] could have been a jazz musician”, but he is just a drunk."
A) Mr. P
B) Junior
C) Junior's dad
D) Earl
E) Eugene
Identify the person represented in the following quote:
“I want to go to Stanford and study architecture. […] I want to build something beautiful. Because I want to be remembered."
A) Junior
B) Penelope
C) Roger
D) Gordy
E) Mary
F) Oscar
Identify the person represented in the following quote:
“I draw all the time. […] I draw because words are too unpredictable.
A) Junior
B) Rowdy
C) Gordy
D) Mary
What point of view is the novel written in?
A) First person, told from the perspective of Junior
B) Second person
C) Third person, told by an outside narrator
A consistent topic or idea in the novel is which of the following?
A) Adultery
B) Responsibility
C) Self-Identity
D) Time management
All of the following are issues that are seen in the novel EXCEPT for
A) Hopelessness
B) Stereotypes
C) Racism
D) Disease
This novel explores the relationships people have to literature and
A) Music
B) Movies
C) Video games
D) Drawing
On the reservation, Arnold feels like a(n)
A) outcast
B) leader
C) follower
D) joker
Which of the following gives Arnold trouble in his search for identity?
A) Race
B) Gender
C) Novels
D) Language
Which of the following DOES NOT show the issue of poverty in the novel?
A) Junior’s way of getting to and from school
B) Junior’s praise of KFC chicken
C) Mary’s emails to Junior
D) Junior wearing his father’s suit to winter formal.
Which of the following DOES NOT show the recurring topic of hope in the novel?
A) Mary wanting to become a romantic novel writer
B) Mr. P teaching the students on the rez
C) Penelope’s dream to travel the world and be an architect
D) Junior leaving the reservation to attend high school at Reardan
Friendship is another topic that is seen throughout the course of the novel. Junior establishes friendships with all of the following people EXCEPT
A) Gordy
B) Earl
C) Penelope
D) Rowdy
The issue of race is present in each of the following events, EXCEPT
A) The advice Junior’s grandmother gives to Junior following the fight
B) Earl’s opinion of Junior
C) Gordy’s research on the disappearance of girls in the media