The Medicine Bag - Comprehension Quiz

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.

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

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.

Tags

CCSS.RL.2.10

CCSS.RL.2.2

CCSS.RL.2.3

CCSS.RL.4.3

CCSS.RL.4.4

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.

Tags

CCSS.RL.2.10

CCSS.RL.2.2

CCSS.RL.2.3

CCSS.RL.4.3

CCSS.RL.4.4

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

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.10

CCSS.RI.8.10

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

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.

Tags

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

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

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

Tags

CCSS.RL.2.6

CCSS.RL.8.3

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

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

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.

Tags

CCSS.RL.2.10

CCSS.RL.2.2

CCSS.RL.2.3

CCSS.RL.4.3

CCSS.RL.4.4

Which quotation from “The Medicine Bag” best supports how Martin truly felt in the beginning of the story?

• 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.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.7

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3