WorksheetsUnit 5 Test Contemporary Voices
Total questions: 20
Worksheet time: 2hrs 34mins
Read the excerpt from “Last Rites of the Indian Dead.”
What if museums, universities, and government agencies could put your dead relatives on display or keep them in boxes to be cut up and otherwise studied? What if you believed that the spirits of the dead could not rest until their human remains were placed in a sacred area?
The ordinary American would say there ought to be a law— and there is, for ordinary Americans. The problem for American Indians is that there are too many laws of the kind that make us the archeological property of the United States and too few of the kind that protect us from such insults.
How does Harjo’s style affect her message?
Select the TWO correct answers.
She uses sarcasm to highlight the double standard that exists for groups outside of the American majority.
She asks questions that cannot be answered to demonstrate her disdain for the actions of the American government.
Harjo uses graphic language to emphasize that American Indian remains are being exploited by American researchers.
Harjo explains American Indians’ beliefs about what happens after death to establish common ground with her audience.
Read the excerpt from “Last Rites of the Indian Dead.”
Some targets of the Army’s study were killed in noncombat situations and beheaded immediately. The officer’s account of the decapitation of the Apache chief Mangas Coloradas in 1863 shows the pseudoscientific nature of the exercise. “I weighed the brain and measured the skull,” the good doctor wrote, “and found that while the skull was smaller, the brain was larger than that of Daniel Webster.”
How does Harjo’s style affect her message?
Select the TWO correct answers.
By referring to the “good” doctor, Harjo uses sarcasm to emphasize her outrage over the inhumane treatment of American Indians for unproductive research.
She uses graphic language to demonstrate the level of violence inflicted on American Indians by the American government.
When Harjo cites historical facts, she establishes her credibility as someone qualified to speak on behalf of American Indians.
By including the doctor’s observation that “the brain was larger than that of Daniel Webster,” she establishes American Indians’ superior intelligence.
Read the excerpt from “Last Rites of the Indian Dead.”
And it is not just collectors of the macabre who pay for skeletal remains. Scientists say that these deceased Indians are needed for research that someday could benefit the health and welfare of living Indians. But just how many dead Indians must they examine? Nineteen thousand?
How does Harjo’s style affect her message?
Select the TWO correct answers.
Harjo’s questions create a sarcastic tone that emphasizes her disgust at disrespect shown to so many American Indians for dubious benefit.
Harjo asks the audience to consider whether the investment required to research American Indian subjects is worth the outcome.
Harjo refers to skeletal remains as “deceased Indians” and “dead Indians” to emphasize their humanity and to condemn scientists for ignoring this.
Harjo uses the term “collectors of the macabre” to try to discredit scientists who conduct research using American Indian remains as barbaric.
According to “Last Rites of the Indian Dead,” what is a basis for Harjo’s argument that the U.S. government should make the removal of American Indian remains illegal in all cases?
The practice goes against America’s core values.
Profits made from the sale of the artifacts are not shared with American Indians.
Removal of American Indian remains is destructive to the environment.
Scientific advances resulting from the study of the remains only benefit some Americans.
According to “Last Rites of the Indian Dead,” what is a basis for Harjo’s argument that the U.S. government must act immediately to ban the removal of American Indian remains under penalty of law?
It is an inhumane practice, only applied to minority populations in America.
Relic collectors do not pay American Indians to remove remains from burial grounds.
Repairing the damage to ransacked gravesites is a costly process.
Benefits from scientific research based on the remains are denied to American Indians.
According to “Last Rites of the Indian Dead,” what is a basis for Harjo’s argument that the U.S. government should prohibit the removal of American Indian remains and return all removed remains to their burial sites?
There is no evidence that using the remains for research has led to medical or scientific progress.
The sale of remains does not financially benefit American Indians.
The removal of remains destroys the beauty and tranquility of burial grounds.
Museums and universities refuse to compensate American Indians for their contributions to research.
Read the excerpt from “Last Rites of the Indian Dead.”
Some of my own Cheyenne relatives’ skulls are in the Smithsonian Institution today, along with those of at least 4,500 other Indian people who were violated in the 1800s by the U.S. Army for an “Indian Crania Study.” It wasn’t enough that these unarmed Cheyenne people were mowed down by the cavalry at the infamous Sand Creek massacre; many were decapitated, and their heads shipped to Washington as freight.
Why does Harjo use the word violated, instead of words like harmed or disturbed?
Violated has the most negative connotation and emphasizes the army’s brutality.
It has a more neutral connotation to demonstrate the army was doing its job.
Violated has a weaker connotation that conveys the army’s use of restraint.
It has a more positive connotation to show the army acted in the interest of science.
Read the excerpt from “Last Rites of the Indian Dead.”
The country must recognize that the bodies of dead American Indian people are not artifacts to be bought and sold as collector’s items. It is not appropriate to store tens of thousands of our ancestors for possible future research. They are our family. They deserve to be returned to their sacred burial grounds and given a chance to rest.
Why does Harjo use the word sacred, instead of words like valued or spiritual?
Sacred has a stronger connotation and emphasizes the cultural and religious importance of American Indian burial grounds.
It has a weaker connotation to indicate the burial grounds lose meaning once they have been vandalized by collectors.
Sacred has a more negative connotation to convey American Indians’ fear of death and questions about the afterlife.
It has a more positive connotation and confirms the burial grounds can again be respected once the American Indian remains are returned.
Read the excerpt from “Last Rites of the Indian Dead.”
The total Indian body count in the Smithsonian collection is more than 19,000, and it is not the largest in the country. It is not inconceivable that the 1.5 million of us living today are outnumbered by our dead stored in museums, educational institutions, federal agencies, state historical societies, and private collections. The Indian people are further dehumanized by being exhibited alongside the mastodons and dinosaurs and other extinct creatures.
Why does Harjo use the word dehumanized, instead of words like disrespected or degraded?
Dehumanized has a stronger connotation and conveys American Indians have been treated as objects or animals, rather than people.
It has a weaker connotation to emphasize that American Indians have lost their sense of identity after years of mistreatment.
Dehumanized has a more neutral connotation to show that actions against the American Indians were based on necessity, not emotion.
It has a more negative connotation to indicate that American Indians have been nearly driven to the point of extinction.
Read the excerpt from “Two Kinds.”
And after seeing my mother’s disappointed face once again, something inside of me began to die. I hated the tests, the raised hopes and failed expectations. Before going to bed that night, I looked in the mirror above the bathroom sink and when I saw only my face staring back—and that it would always be this ordinary face—I began to cry. Such a sad, ugly girl! I made highpitched noises like a crazed animal, trying to scratch out the face in the mirror.
What is the effect of the simile on the text?
It emphasizes the narrator’s desperation to please her mother.
It reveals the violent side of the narrator’s personality.
It shows the narrator struggling to contain her emotions.
It demonstrates how poorly the narrator is treated by her mother.
Read the excerpt from “Two Kinds.”
But my mother’s expression was what devastated me: a quiet, blank look that said she had lost everything. I felt the same way, and it seemed as if everybody were now coming up, like gawkers at the scene of an accident, to see what parts were actually missing. When we got on the bus to go home, my father was humming the busy-bee tune and my mother was silent.
What is the effect of the simile on the text?
It emphasizes what a disaster the narrator’s performance was.
It shows the narrator’s performance was worthy of attention.
It explains what went wrong for the narrator during the show.
It demonstrates the audience’s sympathy for the narrator.
Read the excerpt from “Two Kinds.”
“Then I wish I wasn’t your daughter. I wish you weren’t my mother,” I shouted. As I said these things I got scared. It felt like worms and toads and slimy things were crawling out of my chest, but it also felt good, as if this awful side of me had surfaced, at last.
What is the effect of the simile on the text?
It shows the narrator knows exactly how much her words hurt her mother.
It reveals the ugly nature of the narrator’s true character.
It emphasizes the narrator’s relief in sharing her feelings with her mother.
It highlights how much the narrator dislikes who she is as a person.
In “Two Kinds,” how do the narrator’s interactions with Mr. Chong affect the story?
The narrator takes advantage of the fact that Mr. Chong is hard of hearing to get away with mistakes and pretend she is improving.
Mr. Chong’s love of music is contagious, and he motivates the narrator to practice to become a gifted pianist.
Mr. Chong helps the narrator understand how much her parents have sacrificed to help her fulfill her dreams to become a child star.
The narrator and her mother resolve their differences when Mr. Chong helps the narrator see she is a natural performer.
In “Two Kinds,” how do the mother’s expectations of her daughter affect the story?
The narrator fears she can never be what her mother wants her to be, and to deal with these feelings, she rebels.
The narrator is inspired by her mother’s dreams for her and gains confidence as she discovers her natural talent for music.
The narrator becomes overconfident in her abilities and, as a result, fails to learn from the mistakes that she makes.
The narrator resents being forced to take music lessons until she sees how much her family sacrifices to buy her a piano.
In “Two Kinds,” how does the rivalry between the narrator's mother and Aunt Lindo over whose child is most gifted affect the story?
When the narrator overhears her mother’s bragging, she is motivated to destroy her mother’s foolish pride.
The relationship between the narrator and Aunt Lindo’s daughter grows stronger because they both feel pressured to succeed.
When the narrator fails to win the talent show, her mother learns an important lesson about exaggerating the truth.
The friendship between the narrator and Aunt Lindo’s daughter dissolves as their desire to be the best deepens.
In "Complexion," Rodriguez’s parents teach him to respect symbols of what they consider an upper-class life.
How does this affect Rodriguez as a child?
He purposefully seeks to make an impression and fit in with people with money and social status.
He develops a resentful attitude toward people and institutions that represent wealth and power.
He forms stereotypes about cultural groups that he judges to be less affluent and less educated.
He becomes confused, identifying with two cultures and feels like an outsider in both worlds.
In "Complexion," Rodriguez’s mother has specific ideas about dark skin.
How does this affect Rodriguez as a child?
He is deeply ashamed of his Mexican heritage.
He begins to associate dark skin with poverty.
He attempts to lighten his skin to fit in better.
He spends time in the sun as a form of rebellion.
In "Complexion," Rodriguez experiences incidences of racial abuse and discrimination.
How does this affect Rodriguez?
He begins to pay attention to racial injustice around him and studies its impact.
He develops a resentful attitude toward people and institutions that support racism.
He forms stereotypes about cultural groups that he judges to be different from his own.
He denies his heritage and adapts behaviors he deems acceptable by the majority.
Read the poem.
Those Winter Sundays
by Robert Hayden
Sundays too my father got up early
and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,
then with cracked hands that ached
from labor in the weekday weather made
banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.
I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.
When the rooms were warm, he’d call,
and slowly I would rise and dress,
fearing the chronic angers of that house,
Speaking indifferently to him,
who had driven out the cold
and polished my good shoes as well.
What did I know, what did I know
of love’s austere and lonely offices?
Part of the appeal of "Those Winter Sundays" is that readers can draw their own conclusions about the speaker and his father because things are left uncertain.
Which line from the poem leaves readers wondering what makes the speaker realize he should have appreciated his father more?
"What did I know, what did I know"
"Speaking indifferently to him,"
"Sundays too my father got up early"
"and polished my good shoes as well."
Read the poem.
Lady Freedom Among Us
by Rita Dove
don’t lower your eyes
or stare straight ahead to where
you think you ought to be going
don’t mutter oh no
not another one
get a job fly a kite
go bury a bone
with her oldfashioned sandals
with her leaden skirts
with her stained cheeks and whiskers and heaped up trinkets
she has risen among us in blunt reproach
she has fitted her hair under a hand-me-down cap
and spruced it up with feathers and stars
slung over her shoulder she bears
the rainbowed layers of charity and murmurs
all of you even the least of you
don’t cross to the other side of the square
don’t think another item to fit on a tourist’s agenda
consider her drenched gaze her shining brow
she who has brought mercy back into the street
and will not retire politely to the potter’s field
having assumed the thick skin of this town
its gritted exhaust its sunscorch and blear
she rests in her weathered plumage
bigboned resolute
don’t think you can forget her
don’t even try
she’s not going to budge
no choice but to grant her space
crown her with sky
for she is one of the many
and she is each of us
In "Lady Freedom Among Us," Dove wants readers to recognize that people experiencing homelessness in America are no different than homed citizens.
Which TWO stanzas work together to develop this overall message?
Stanza 2
Stanza 4
Stanza 6
Stanza 8
