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WorksheetsQuiz on 'The Leap' by Louise Erdrich
Total questions: 52
Worksheet time: 35mins
What is the main setting of 'The Leap'?
Urban city
Small town in North Dakota
Desert landscape
Coastal village
Who is the narrator of the story?
Anna
The Father
Anna's Daughter
A family friend
What profession did Anna have before becoming a mother?
Nurse
Teacher
Trapeze artist
Dancer
What event drastically changes Anna's life?
A family reunion
A trapeze accident
A flood
A wedding
What does the trapeze symbolize in the story?
Fear
Stability
Freedom and risk
Confusion
How does the narrator feel about her mother's past?
Disappointed
Proud
Indifferent
Angry
What role does the father play in the story?
The main character
A tragic figure
A source of comfort
An obstacle
What major theme is explored in 'The Leap'?
Love and sacrifice
Isolation
Technology vs. nature
Wealth and poverty
Which literary device is heavily used to convey Anna's past?
Foreshadowing
Flashbacks
Irony
Allegory
What significant action does Anna take in the climax of the story?
Performs again
Leaves her family
Saves her daughter
Relives her memories
How does Anna's past as a trapeze artist affect her motherhood?
It makes her neglectful
It inspires her bravery
It has no effect
It makes her fearful
What does the fire in the story symbolize?
Destruction and rebirth
Comfort
Safety
Routine
Why does the narrator reflect on her mother's past?
To criticize her choices
To understand her character
To promote her own career
To forget the past
How does Anna's personality evolve throughout the story?
She becomes more reckless
She shows increased strength and resilience
She becomes bitter
She grows distant
What does the story suggest about the nature of risk?
It should always be avoided
It is essential for growth
It leads to failure
It is purely negative
How does Anna's memory of trapeze performances contrast with her life as a mother?
They are similar experiences
One is full of joy, the other sorrow
They are both mundane
They are completely disconnected
What does the narrator learn about her mother by the end of the story?
She was never happy
She was a complex and brave individual
She regretted her choices
She was indifferent to her family
What is the significance of Anna's decision to continue performing after her husband's death?
It shows her recklessness
It illustrates her strength and dedication
It is a sign of her desperation
It represents her abandonment of family
How does the author use imagery to enhance the story?
By providing mundane details
By creating vivid scenes of Anna's past
By focusing solely on dialogue
By avoiding descriptive language
What does the relationship between the narrator and Anna reveal about family dynamics?
They are entirely disconnected
They share a deep bond influenced by shared history
They are constantly at odds
They are only superficially connected
What emotion does the narrator primarily feel toward her mother?
Resentment
Admiration
Indifference
Jealousy
How is the theme of sacrifice illustrated in 'The Leap'?
Through Anna's career choices
Through her actions to protect her daughter
Through the father's influence
Through the narrator's decisions
What effect does the use of flashbacks have on the reader's understanding of Anna?
They confuse the timeline
They provide depth to her character
They are irrelevant
They are overly detailed
How does the story address the concept of identity?
Through material success
Through Anna's past experiences and current roles
Through superficial traits
Through societal expectations
What does the ending of the story suggest about the future?
It is bleak and uncertain
It is filled with hope and continuity
It is irrelevant to the characters
It is only focused on the past
How does Anna's past affect her relationship with her daughter?
It creates distance
It fosters understanding and admiration
It leads to conflict
It has no impact
What narrative technique does Erdrich primarily use in 'The Leap'?
Stream of consciousness
Non-linear storytelling
First-person narration
Third-person omniscient
How does the story explore the idea of courage?
Through reckless behavior
Through Anna's performances and her decision to save her daughter
Through avoidance of risk
Through cowardice
What internal struggle does Anna face throughout the story?
The desire to return to performing
The conflict between her past identity and her role as a mother
The need for financial stability
The quest for social acceptance
How does Anna's character exemplify the theme of resilience?
By giving up after her husband's death
By refusing to face her past
By continuing to care for her daughter despite her losses
By ignoring her daughter's needs
What caused the narrator’s mother to go blind?
Cataracts
Her career as a trapeze artist
A car accident
In “The Leap,” what does the narrator suggest is the main reason that her
mother, now blind from cataracts, can still safely negotiate her New Hampshire
home?
She has lived there a long time.
She once saved the narrator’s life.
She was once part of a blindfold trapeze act.
She has a highly developed sense of hearing.
As explained in “The Leap,” what causes the circus disaster in which Harry
Avalon dies?
After the narrator’s mother in “The Leap” is injured in the accident,
why is the narrator’s father called to the hospital to help her?
He teaches people to read and write.
He has experience in circus disasters.
He wants to make amends for starting the fire.
He is familiar with treating her sort of injury.
In “The Leap,” after the mother marries for the second time, what
seems to be her attitude toward her early years as a circus performer?
She enjoys recalling her days as a famous acrobat.
She seems to have put her past behind her.
She longs for the romance of those years.
She deeply regrets her early career.
Which means of transportation would most Americans today consider to be
superannuated?
airplane
spaceship
automobile
stagecoach
Which phrase best describes the mother in “The Leap” when she jumps
onto the burning house to rescue her daughter?
calm and capable
caring but hesitant
nervous and embarrassed
frightened but determined
What do the details in this excerpt from “The Leap” most clearly
foreshadow?
[S]ometimes, as I sit sewing in the room of the rebuilt house in which I slept as a
child, I hear the crackle, catch a whiff of smoke from the stove downstairs, and
suddenly the room goes dark, the stitches burn beneath my fingers, and I am
sewing with a needle of hot silver, a thread of fire.
the narrator’s returning to live with her elderly mother
the revelation of the mother’s blindness in later life
the memory of the fire that the narrator escaped
the story of the mother’s time in the hospital
In speaking of her mother, the narrator of “The Leap” says, “I owe her my
existence three times.” To which of the mother’s actions does the narrator most
clearly refer? Choose three options.
saving herself in the circus disaster
staying in the narrator’s hometown
rescuing the narrator in the fire
giving birth to the narrator
learning to read and write
Read this description of Anna from paragraph 1. She has never upset an object or as much as brushed a magazine onto the floor. She has never lost her balance or bumped into a closet door left carelessly open. The description suggests that Anna has retained her -
ability to remain calm
graceful acrobatic skills
matter-of-fact approach to challenges
capacity for dealing with extreme situations
Read this sentence from paragraph 5. They loved to drop gracefully from nowhere, like two sparkling birds, and blow kisses as they threw off their plumed helmets and high-collared capes. What does comparing the Flying Avalons to birds mainly suggest about them?
Their relationship was romantic.
They enjoyed surprising the audience.
They looked small and fragile on stage.
Their acrobatics were skillful and natural.
Read how the words unnoticed in paragraph 4 and unseen in paragraph 12 are used in context. What is the meaning of the prefix un-?
Bad
Not
Never
Again
The phrase one form of flight for another in paragraph 15 suggests that the -
ability to read allows the imagination to soar
mother is willing to exchange excitement for safety
father understands what the mother has given up
feeling of contentment is connected to love
The narrator implies that the main reason she moved back to her childhood home to care for her mother was due to her feeling of -
guilt
gratitude
obligation
admiration
This question has two parts. First, answer Part A. Then, answer Part B. Part A Which theme is conveyed in the selection?
We rely on our sense of sight more than any other sense.
Living through difficult circumstances can breed resentment.
Sometimes a moment in time can seem longer than it actually is.
Children often grow to be more like their parents than they expect.
Which quotation best supports the answer to Part A?
She is one with the constant dark now, just as the air was her home, familiar to her, safe, before the storm that afternoon. (paragraph 6)
My mother once said that I'd be amazed at how many things a person can do within the act of falling. (paragraph 9)
I suppose you could call it the egocentrism of a child, of all young children, but I considered her a less finished version of myself. (paragraph 11)
I came home to read to my mother, to read out loud, to read long into the dark if I must, to read all night. (paragraph 15)
Most of 'The Leap' is narrated as a series of flashbacks. What does the use of flashbacks allow the author to do that could not have been done without this technique?
Narrate important events of the story in reverse chronological order
Control the pacing to increase the tension of the story's climactic moment
Slow down significant moments of the story and speed up less significant moments
Use the narrator's adult knowledge to revise unflattering events from her childhood
Which two inferences can you make about the narrator as a child?
She was obedient.
She was very curious.
She was easily frightened.
She wanted to become an acrobat.
She had complete faith in her mother.
Which element makes it difficult to identify the climax in 'The Leap'?
The use of a narrator who is never named
The use of two main characters, the narrator and her mother
Two plot lines, one involving the Flying Avalons and the other involving the narrator as a child
The story ending, in which the narrator and her mother are still descending to safety on the ground
In which sentence about 'The Leap' does the word who or whom function as a relative pronoun at the beginning of a relative clause?
The narrator did not know who would try to rescue her.
The story doesn't say who was killed besides Harry Avalon.
Anna's arm was broken by a rescuer who was trying to help her.
It seems obvious whom the babysitter telephoned after she awoke.
Identify one theme the reader can infer from the details of the story, and explain how the author develops the theme. Include evidence from the text to support your response.
Organize these options into the right categories
Anna saves herself during a trapeze act when lightning strikes the tent pole.
Anna loses her sight.
The narrator comes home to read to her mother.
Anna leaps into a burning house to save her daughter.
