Biography
When and where was Erdrich born?
In Minnesota (Little Falls), on June 6th, 1954.
Provide a synonym for the adjective "utter".
Total, absolute
Find a word in the text that means "felt distress or great sorrow".
Grieved
What is a "doppleganger"?
A ghostly double or counterpart of a living person. Alter ego.
Why did the doctor and the mother think no extraordinary means should be used to save the baby?
Because she had a congenital deformity and could die.
Her mother is French Chippewa/Ojibwe and her father German American.
Provide a synonym for "suitable".
Appropriate, acceptable
Find a word in the text that means "(he) became unconscious".
Passed out
How did she get extra care in hospital?
Betty, then a night janitor, nursed her and rounded her skull.
Describe the first time Tuffy felt her brother.
Name three jobs she had before she became a writer.
Farm worker, lifeguard, cook, waitress, construction worker ...
Provide a synonym for "sliding"
Gliding or passing smoothly
Find an expression in the text that means "suddenly and unexpectedly"
Out of the blue
What special treatment did Tuffy get at home when she was little?
Until she was eleven, Betty and Albert tried to stretch out her legs.
Why was Sheryl jealous of Tuffy as a child?
Because Tuffy was white.
Which of her novels won the National Book Critics Circle Award and why was it special?
Love Medicine was also her first novel.
Provide a synonym for "fainter"
Weaker, lacking more strenght or vividness.
Find a word in the text that means "treated or gratified with too much care or excesive indulgence"
Pampered
What did Albert teach the children?
He showed them how to spot a rabbit run and set a snare.
How was Tuffy's dog connected to her childhood?
Because her dog was a descendant of the one that had growled at the welfare lady when she was four.
Loss of tradition, revenge, healing and love, homecoming, parent abandonment
Provide a synonym for "glaring".
Shining or reflecting with a very bright light.
Find a word in the text that means "incapability to feel sensations, as if under the effects of anesthesia"
Numbness
Why does Tuffy think she accepted her mother's invitation to have dinner together?
Because her mother's conversational chatter must have caused a dreamlike amnesia to come over her.
Who was the only person in the family who approved of Tuffy's decision? How did her attitude differ from Tuffy's?
Only Cheryl, Cedric's wife, approved because she was very Christian. For Tuffy, however, the alternative was unbearable.