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Worksheets

The World on the Turtle's Back

Total questions: 25

Worksheet time: 13mins

Name
Class
Date
1.
From what culture does the story come?
a)
Apahe
b)
Iroquis
c)
Cherokee
d)
Lakota
2.

What kind of story attempts to explain how things started?

a)

Folk Tale

b)

Creation Myth

c)

Epic Tale

d)

Legend

3.

Where do people live at the beginning of the world in “The World on the Turtle’s Back”?

a)

In an Ocean World under the Ocean.

b)

There are no people anywhere.

c)

Inside the world, like babies in a womb.

d)

In a Sky World above the world.

4.

Why does the man go to the Great Tree at the beginning of the myth?

a)

His wife wants some flowers.

b)

He wants to make his pregnant wife happy.

c)

The tree has been growing forever.

d)

He wants to escape the Sky-World.

5.

When the woman falls from the Sky-World, the birds' actions show that animals

a)

do not care about others

b)

fear others

c)

depend on the help of others

d)

care about others

6.

How does the earth form in “World on the Turtle’s Back”?

a)

The woman brought dirt with her from

Sky World.

b)

The Great Spirit forms it.

c)

Land already exists before the woman arrives.

d)

A muskrat brings up soil from the ocean bottom, and the woman plants the roots in them.

7.

Vocabulary Check:

(adv). most importantly; chiefly

a)

inherently

b)

opaquely

c)

tenuously

d)

preeminently

8.

What does this creation myth explain about the Iroquois dance rituals?

a)

Iroquois dance to worship the moon.

b)

They dance in the same direction as the sun to honor the creation of the earth.

c)

The muskrat created the first dance.

d)

Only twins are allowed to dance.

9.

How does the woman cause the plants to grow in “World on the Turtle’s Back”?

a)

She waters it and chants over it.

b)

She walks in a circle, following the Sun, around the clod of dirt.

c)

The animals cause it to grow with their knowledge of life.

d)

She prays over it.

10.

How does the girl become pregnant in “World on the Turtle’s Back”?

a)

She is born pregnant.

b)

Nobody knows.

c)

A man fills her with terror and she faints.

d)

Two arrows, one sharp and one blunt, are laid across her body.

11.

The arrows that the man brings to the girl represent

a)

the twins

b)

ocean waves

c)

fish and birds

d)

a dance ritual

12.

To whom does the first woman give birth in “World on the Turtle’s Back”?

a)

Two sons.

b)

A daughter.

c)

All animals.

d)

All of these are true.

13.

In “World on the Turtle’s Back”, what grows on the twins’ mother’s grave?

a)

The plants that Iroquois still eat.

b)

A huge tree, like the one in Sky World.

c)

Nothing will grow there.

14.

The twins in “World on the Turtle’s Back” decide to settle their differences in what way?

a)

They ask their father to choose between

them.

b)

They ask their grandmother to choose

between them.

c)

They do not have any differences.

d)

They have a series of duels.

15.

What is the result of the twins’ duel in “World on the Turtle’s Back”?

a)

The right-handed twin is killed by a deer antler.

b)

Their father chooses the victor.

c)

Their grandmother chooses the victor.

d)

The left-handed twin is killed by a deer antler.

16.

The twins can best be interpreted as symbols of

a)

animal and plant life

b)

humanity's dual nature

c)

youth and agedness

d)

disease and death

17.

Vocabulary Check:

(adj.) having little substance or strength

a)

luxuriant

b)

nocturnal

c)

tenuous

d)

opaque

18.

In “World on the Turtle’s Back”, the grandmother favors which twin?

a)

She does not favor either.

b)

Neither, she favors their sister.

c)

The right-handed twin.

d)

The left-handed twin.

19.

What becomes of the right-handed twin in “World on the Turtle’s Back”?

a)

He lives with his brother off the edge of the Earth, watching men at night.

b)

He disappears, but is believed to be reborn every generation.

c)

He lives in Sky World, receiving offerings of tobacco smoke and watching men during the day.

d)

He becomes the moon, men’s nighttime protector.

20.

What becomes of the grandmother in “World on the Turtle’s Back”?

a)

She dies and is buried, the first to receive the Iroquois funeral rites.

b)

Her body becomes the earth, from which food grows.

c)

Her head becomes the moon, watching over the world.

d)

She is cast into the ocean.

21.

Why do the Iroquois honor both the left and right-handed twins?

a)

They don't believe either is "bad."

b)

They believe both twins are needed to keep balance in the word.

c)

They believe both are significant and serve an important purpose.

d)

All answers are true.

22.

The right-handed twin is angry because the left-handed twin

a)

is his mother's favorite

b)

creates more animals

c)

kills their mother

d)

is a better archer

23.

During which of the following actions is the left-handed twin most likely present?

a)

during planting

b)

after sports

c)

at harvest

d)

during war

24.

Vocabulary Check:

(adj.) abundant in growth; fertile

a)

profusion

b)

luxuriant

c)

opaque

d)

inherently

25.

The correct plural form of the word story is

a)

storys

b)

stories

c)

story's

d)

storie's