Black Elk Speaks: Study Help: Quiz

1: Which of the following categories of literature does not apply to Black Elk Speaks?

a. Autobiography

b. Historical fiction

c. Spiritual revelation

d. Tribal history

2: What does the red ribbon -- one of the four ribbons of the universe -- represent?

a. The west, the source of rain

b. The north, the source of cleansing wind

c. The east, the place of the morning star that gives wisdom

d. The south, the place of summer and growth

3: How old was Black Elk when he received his first vision in which two men appear in the sky singing a sacred song?

a. Five years old

b. Fifteen years old

c. Twenty-five years old

d. Black Elk cannot remember when this vision occurred

4: What type of animal speaks to Black Elk at the beginning of his Great Vision?

a. Horse

b. Bison

c. Crow

d. Snake

5: What name do the council of Grandfathers bestow upon Black Elk during his Great Vision?

a. Plenty Eagle Feathers

b. White Cow Sees

c. Iron Hawk

d. Eagle Wing Stretches

6: During the fishing lesson, how does Watanye react when Black Elk falls into the water?

a. He paddles away, forcing Black Elk to walk home.

b. He laughs until his mouth bleeds.

c. He releases all the fish and makes Black Elk start all over.

d. He reaches out to Black Elk with a branch to help him up.

7: Who does Black Elk's father refer to as the "Grandfather at Washington"?

a. Ulysses S. Grant

b. Andrew Jackson

c. General George Armstrong Custer

d. Rutherford B. Hayes

8: Who does Black Elk regard as the greatest of all Sioux chiefs?

a. Red Cloud

b. Standing Bear

c. Crazy Horse

d. Sitting Bull

9: What is the medicine man Black Road's advice when Black Elk tells him about his vision?

a. He advises Black Elk to hold a horse dance.

b. He tells Black Elk to wait for a sign from the Great Spirit.

c. He sends Black Elk into the countryside alone for three days.

d. He advises Black Elk to tell no one else about the vision.

10: Upon whom does Black Elk perform his first act of healing?

a. His mother White Cow Sees

b. His good friend One Side

c. The young son of Cuts-to-Pieces

d. A wounded porcupine

11: Who offers Black Elk a job that requires him to leave his tribe and travel abroad?

a. Ulysses S. Grant

b. Davy Crockett

c. Buffalo Bill

d. Roy Rogers

12: What is the message of the rainbow that Black Elk envisions while dancing with the Brules on Cut Meat Creek?

a. "Remember this."

b. "Follow the eagle."

c. "Restore the Flowering Tree."

d. "Never surrender."

13: What happens when Black Elk reaches the top of Harney Peak as an old man and begs the Great Spirit to let him help his people?

a. A bolt of lightning strikes a nearby tree.

b. He hears a low sound of thunder and it begins to rain.

c. Black Elk collapses and dies.

d. An eagle circles in the sky and comes to land on Black Elk's shoulder.

Black Elk Speaks By John Gneisenau Niehardt Study Help Quiz

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