Love Medicine Examination Section A: (Remember) – 5-10 minutes, (10 points, 1 points each statement) Denote whether the below statements are true or false. If wrong, underline and fix the mistake. Marie being stabbed through the hand is construed by Leopolda to be an act of God. Directly after the death of her husband, Beverly Lamartine, Lulu Nanapush had sexual relations with Henry Lamartine. Gordie and Aurelia are going to hang Zelda, but are only stopped by June bringing their mother, Marie. Nector confronts Marie because he believes that she stole a gold chalice from the convent.
Through characters such as King and Gordie, Erdrich reveals the effects of drug abuse. Albertine is a self-focused narrator, who is focused more on her own actions and thoughts rather than others. Due to his upraising, King reflects the ideals/traits that transcendentalists value the most. Throughout Love Medicine, the majority of the novel was written from the point of view of one character When the police arrive at King’s house, searching for Gerry Nanapush, Howard attempts to betray Gerry’s location. In the character foil between Nector and Eli, Nector is portrayed by Erdrich to be a better father than Eli.
Section B: (Understand/Analyze) – 5-10 minutes, (25 points, 5 points for each response) Write two to three sentences each briefly addressing the implications of these events in the novel. Use attached sheet of lined paper. What is the significance of the spoon in Marie and Leopolda’s relationship? What is the implication/symbolism of the destruction of the pies pertaining to family by King? How does the factory on the reservation run by Lyman Lamartine relate to Native Americans gaining/losing power? Explain in detail how Erdrich describes the Catholic church as well as its implication.
Explain two instances of symbolism involving motor vehicles in Love Medicine. What do they represent? How does this relate back to the novel? Section C: (Apply) – 10-15 minutes Connect Love Medicine to modern day Native American issues using the current treatment of Indians by society. (5-10 sentences, 20 points). Use lined paper, attach to test. Section D: (Evaluate) – 10-15 minutes Defend or critique the use of ambiguity and uncertainty regarding both the nature of events and the nature of characters by Louise Erdrich throughout the novel as an effective literary tool. 5-10 sentences, 20 points) Use lined paper, attach to test. Section E: (Create) – 15-20 minutes Write a foreword or afterword from the perspective of Louise Erdrich, providing an overarching view of the text and her motives for writing the book and writing the book the way she did. Use specific instances from the text. (100-200 words, 25 points) Use lined paper, attach to test.
Answer Key: Section A: T F: Directly after the death of her husband, Henry Lamartine, Lulu Nanapush had sexual relations with Beverly Lamartine. F: Gordie and Aurelia are going to hang June but are only stopped by Zelda bringing their mother, Marie. I F: Through characters such as King and Gordie, Erdrich reveals the effects of alcoholism. T F: Due to his upraising, Eli/Lipsha reflects the ideals/traits that transcendentalists value the most F: Throughout Love Medicine, the majority of the novel was written from the point of view of many characters. When the police arrive at King’s house, searching for Gerry Nanapush, Howard attempts to betray King’s location. In the character foil between Nector and Eli, Eli is portrayed by Erdrich to be a better father than Nector.
Section B: (Answers should be similar to) In the relationship between Marie and Leopolda, the spoon signifies the power that Leopolda holds over Marie. The power dynamic between Marie and Leopolda begins when Marie is a child in the covenant, and even as an adult, she wants to gain power over Leopolda. Her attempt to take the spoon represents her trying to regain the control that she lost. The pies which were made by Zelda represent the love and close relationship between family members. The pies are made with care and symbolize harmony and order in the family.
When King destroys the pies, it represents how his actions drive the household apart and breaks the relationships between its members. The factory on the reservation run by Lyman Lamartine represents the coming age of commercialism by white America that comes at great expense to the Native American population. Moreover, Lyman’s collaboration in the organization of the factory shows how greed can overcome traditional values, demonstrated by his treatment of his fellow Native Americans, especially Marie and Lulu. It also shows the role that power plays in the novel, relating to the power struggle between Marie and Leopolda.
Edrich describes the Catholic church as corrupt and false through the characters of Marie and Leopola. Marie shows how some Christians see religion as a way to gain status and power, since she wanted to rise up and gain power. Leopolda demonstrates how hypocrisy exists within the Church: how Christians while preaching values such as love, compassion, kindness, mercy do not practice them in their own lives. For example, Leopolda said that Marie had Satan within her, whereas due to Leopolda’s seemingly extreme behavior, it seems as if Leopolda had Satan within her. Throughout the novel, Erdrich uses symbolism involving cars.
First, the red convertible of Henry and Lyman represents not only the good times for Henry Lamartine Jr. before his traumatizing experience while in Vietnam, but it represents agency and the ability of selfdetermination. Another instance is the car that King buys with the insurance money after June’s death. When Lipsha obtains possession of the car from King, it symbolizes him finally acknowledging and accepting his identity as June’s son. It can also represent June’s final gift to him. It relates to the novel because these cars remind Lipsha of June and Lyman of Henry, tying into the familial theme.
Section C: Students should have a well composed paragraph, graded following the below rubric: Mechanics and Conventions (5 points) 5: Mechanics and conventions are nearly perfect, mistakes do not hinder or disrupt understanding of the message. 4: Mechanics and conventions are mostly used correctly, mistakes sometimes hinder or disrupt understanding of the message. 3: Mechanics and conventions are used with many errors, mistakes often hinder or disrupt understanding of the message. 2-1: Mechanics and conventions are often used incorrectly mistakes completely hinder or disrupt understanding of the message.
Content (15 points) 15-12. 5: Responses exceed the expectation of length, respond excellently to the prompt using three or more of the below elements. 12. 5-10: Responses adequately fulfill the expectation of length, respond well to the prompt using two to three of the below elements. 10-5: Responses are shorter in length than the expectation, respond to the prompt using only one of the below elements. 5-0: Responses are incomplete and fall well short of the expected length, do not respond to the prompt using any of the below elements.
Possible elements included in response: Reference to the video watched in class about jurisdiction on Native American plantations or the subject matter contained in the video. Reference to any of the resources on the treatment of Native Americans in America, including the Ted Talk by Aaron Huey Current events regarding Native Americans. Reference to any of the following moments in the book: creation of the factory by Lyman Lamartine, the casting of Nector in a Hollywood movie, sexual treatment of Albertine and June.
Section D: Students should have a well composed paragraph, graded following the below rubric: Mechanics and Conventions (5 points) 5: Mechanics and conventions are nearly perfect, mistakes do not hinder or disrupt understanding of the message. 4: Mechanics and conventions are mostly used correctly, mistakes sometimes hinder or disrupt understanding of the message. 3: Mechanics and conventions are used with many errors, mistakes often hinder or disrupt understanding of the message. 2-1: Mechanics and conventions are often used incorrectly istakes completely hinder or disrupt understanding of the message. Content (15 points) 15-12. 5: Responses exceed the expectation of length, respond excellently to the prompt using four or more of the below elements. 12. 5-10: Responses adequately fulfill the expectation of length, respond well to the prompt using three of the below elements. 10-5: Responses are shorter in length than the expectation, respond to the prompt using only two of the below elements. 5-0: Responses are incomplete and fall well short of the expected length, does not respond to the prompt using any of the below elements.
Possible elements included in response: Paragraph discusses the motives of the author to use ambiguity/ uncertainty in the text, including how it contributes to the story and affects the reader’s perception of characters. Provides an opinion on the effectiveness of its use. Discusses the numerous sexual encounters in the novel and explains how the ambiguity involved in these scenes contributes to the novel. (consensual or nonconsensual) Demonstrates understanding of how Erdrich uses character traits to portray the character’s complex relationship between being good and ad. (King, Gerry, Marie, Lulu, Nector, etc. ) Section E: Students should have a well composed paragraph, graded following the below rubric: Mechanics and Conventions (5 points) 5: Mechanics and conventions are nearly perfect, mistakes do not hinder or disrupt understanding of the message.
4: Mechanics and conventions are mostly used correctly, mistakes sometimes hinder or disrupt understanding of the message. 3: Mechanics and conventions are used with many errors, mistakes often hinder or disrupt understanding of the message. -1: Mechanics and conventions are often used incorrectly mistakes completely hinder or disrupt understanding of the message. Content (20 points) 20-17. 5: Responses exceed the expectation of length, respond excellently to the prompt using two A elements and two B elements. 17. 5-15: Responses adequately fulfill the expectation of length, respond well to the prompt using one of the A elements and two of the Group B elements 15-10: Responses are shorter in length than the expectation, respond to the prompt using only two of the below elements (A or B).
0-0: Responses are incomplete and fall well short of the expected length, does not respond to the prompt using any of the below elements. Possible A elements included in response: Works to incorporate the writing style of Louise Erdrich, writes from her point of view realistically. Discusses motivation for writing the novel. Discusses motivation for writing the novel in the way she did (diction, tone, use of changing point of view/figurative language) Possible B elements included in the response: Discusses crucial events and specific instances in the novel.
