The Medicine Bag

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.

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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.

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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.

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As Grandpa explains in “The Medicine Bag,” how is the medicine bag to be passed down from generation to generation?

• only through chiefs

• only through males

• only through females

• only through firstborn children

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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.

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In “The Medicine Bag,” before Grandpa comes to visit, how does the narrator feel about talking to his friends about his Lakota grandfather?

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

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

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

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

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Which quotation from “The Medicine Bag” best supports the answer to question 6?

• 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.

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

• 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.

• We never showed our friends Grandpa’s picture.

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Which statement most clearly describes Martin in the early part of “The Medicine Bag”?

• Martin worries about his friends’ opinions.

• Martin is cruel and insensitive toward others.

• Martin appreciates and respects Grandpa’s behavior.

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

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Which sentence from “The Medicine Bag” best supports the answer to question 8?

• Maybe we exaggerated and made Grandpa and the reservation sound glamorous….

• We usually had some authentic Lakota article to show our listeners.

• I watched the group as it slowly came closer and saw that in the center of the strange procession was a man wearing a tall black hat.

• His getup wasn’t out of place on the reservation, but it sure was here, and I wanted to sink right through the pavement.

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Near the end of “The Medicine Bag,” Grandpa gives Martin the medicine bag and says, “[You] need not wear it.” What do these words show most clearly about Grandpa’s thinking?

• Grandpa knows that the medicine bag has power even if Martin does not wear it.

• Grandpa realizes that the medicine bag will be more meaningful at a later time.

• Grandpa feels sad that Martin does not want to wear the medicine bag.

• Grandpa understands that Martin is uncomfortable about his heritage.

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