“Blue Winds Dancing” Quiz: Sheri Verdugo

1. At the beginning of the story, the narrator is thinking mainly about

A. becoming successful
B. dancing
C. going home
D. studying
2. The narrator observes that, in the valley where he goes to school, the trees
A. smell rotten
B. grow in straight lines
C. struggle for life
D. never bear fruit
3. The narrator travels home by
A. taking a bus
B. hopping on trains
C. taking an airplane
D. hitchhiking
4. What detail suggests where the narrator is at the beginning of the story?
A. orange groves
B. blue winds dancing
C. hobos on trains
D. a city sprawled by a lake
5. To the narrator, "blue winds dancing" symbolize
A. his people's traditional way of life
B. the uselessness of trying to earn a living
C. his loneliness at school
D. the illusion of civilization
6. For the narrator, the difference between being at school and being in a snow-covered forest is
like the difference between feeling
A. secure and insecure
B. confident and afraid
C. lonely and alone
D. accepted and rejected
7. Why does the narrator feel angry when he sees Indian women selling bits of pottery to tourists?
A. He wishes he had a way to make a living.
B. He is envious that some Indians have found ways to make money from whites.
C. He resents the fact that Indians have been reduced to such lowly work.
D. He is afraid that the women are in danger from the tourists.
8. The theme of the story is most concerned with the idea of
A. being true to yourself
B. preparing for the afterlife
C. rebelling against authority
 D. striving to become successful
9. Which of the following places does some of the action not take place?
A. Nevada
B. Colorado
C. Iowa
D. Albuquerque
10. Which of the following people does the narrator identify the most with in white society?
A. his teachers
B. the "bum" hanging around the fire, smoking cigarettes
C. an old man he meets at the train station in Wisconsin
D. the other minority students in school with him also struggling with success