My Perspectives - The Medicine Bag

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

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

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

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

• D. 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?

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

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

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

• D. 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?

• A. He has been injured in an attack by dogs.

• B. He is shocked by life in the suburbs.

• C. He is overcome with grief.

• D. He has heat exhaustion.

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

• A. only through chiefs

• B. only through males

• C. only through females

• D. only through firstborn children

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

• A. It holds rocks that carry magical energy.

• B. It holds leaves that can overcome sickness.

• C. It holds items that protect and guide the wearer.

• D. It holds powders needed in the work of a Sioux 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.

• A. sadly

• B. tiredly

• C. playfully

• D. carefully

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

• A.in a bold way

• B.in a clever way

• C.in an annoying way

• D.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 class

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 Sioux 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 Sioux.

Part B : Which sentence from "The Medicine Bag" most clearly 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. (Paragraph 1)

• B. Our friends, who had always lived in the city and only knew about Indians from movies and TV, were impressed by our stories. (paragraph 2)

• 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. (paragraph 3)

• D. We never showed our friends Grandpa's picture. (paragraph 4)