Motorcycles and Sweetgrass

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Prologue-Chapter 6

Reading Check

1. In the prologue, where is the young woman preparing to go?

2. What name does Sister Agnes give the young woman?

3. What is the name of Virgil’s cousin with whom he sits and talks outside his grandmother’s house?

4. What tribal business do people keep bothering Maggie about, even at her own mother’s funeral?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Sammy memorize Shakespeare in the shed?

2. How does the pretty Indigenous woman react when the old man shouts to her from his window?

3. Why does Maggie’s mother not want her to be the tribal chief?

4. Who is Wayne, and why does he live in isolation?

5. At the funeral reception, why is Virgil skeptical when Maggie tells him she will come home to cook dinner soon?

Paired Resources

“The Dark Legacy of Canada’s Residential Schools, Where Thousands of Children Died”

• This 14-minute video from 60 Minutes details some of the consequences of Canada’s residential school policy. (Content Warning: Mature content; mentions of family separation and abuse)
• This resource relates to The Continued Subjugation of Indigenous Societies.