The Medicine Bag Review

In "The Medicine Bag," how does Grandpa arrive at the narrator’s home? Identify the choice that best answers the question.

• 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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CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.8.1

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In "The Medicine Bag," why does Grandpa say he has arrived for a surprise visit with the family? Identify the choice that best answers the question.

• 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? Identify the choice that best answers the question.

• 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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CCSS.RL.2.10

CCSS.RL.2.2

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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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CCSS.RI.7.10

CCSS.RI.8.10

CCSS.RL.7.10

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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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CCSS.RI.7.10

CCSS.RI.8.10

CCSS.RI.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.8.10

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

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CCSS.RI.6.4

CCSS.RI.7.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

Which person best demonstrates the meaning of frail?

• a famous athlete signing autographs

• a sickly person being helped up the stairs

• a shopper complaining about poor service in a store

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

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CCSS.RI.7.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

Part A: 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.

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

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Which quotation from “The Medicine Bag” shows most clearly that Cheryl’s reaction to Grandpa’s visit differs from Martin’s?

• My kid sister, Cheryl, and I always bragged about our Lakota grandpa, Joe Iron Shell.

• As we supported him up the steps, the door banged open and Cheryl came bursting out of the house.

• So even after she married my dad, who’s not an Indian, and after Cheryl and I were born, Mom made sure that every summer we spent a week with Grandpa.

• Nothing bothered Cheryl about bringing her friends to see Grandpa.

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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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CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

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