WorksheetsThe Medicine Bag
Total questions: 12
Worksheet time: 18mins
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
Which quotation from “The Medicine Bag” best supports the answer to question 6?
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.
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.
He never reveals to his friends that Grandpa is a Lakota.
Which sentence from “The Medicine Bag” best supports the answer to question 8?
Maybe we exaggerated and made Grandpa and the reservation sound glamorous….
We usually had some authentic Lakota article to show our listeners.
I watched the group as it slowly came closer and saw that in the center of the strange procession was a man wearing a tall black hat.
His getup wasn’t out of place on the reservation, but it sure was here, and I wanted to sink right through the pavement.
Which statement best describes a change in Martin at the end of the story?
"So when grandpa came, I was so ashamed and embarrassed I could have died.
"My friends kept asking to come see the old man but I put them off."
"Two weeks later, I stood alone on the lonely prairie of the reservation and put the sacred sage in my medicine bag.
"I kept the bag until my son, your mother's father was a man and had to leave us to fight in the war."
Why is Martin unwilling to accept the medicine bag?
He only wants to accept his Caucasian heritage.
He feels disconnected from his grandpa.
He wants his grandpa to pass the medicine bag to his sister Cheryl.
He is worried that his friends will make fun of him.
In "The Medicine Bag," why does Grandpa collapse after arriving at the house?
He has been injures in an attack by dogs.
He is shocked by life in the suburbs.
He is overcome with grief.
He has heat exhaustion.
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.
My friends kept asking to come see the old man, but I put them off. Nothing bothered Cheryl about bringing her friends to see Grandpa.
