Question

Coyote and Snake

Coyote was going in a straight line across the prairie. While he was seeking something, a person said suddenly, "Stop!" Coyote thought, "Who can it be?"

He looked all around but saw no one. Then he walked on a few steps, when someone said, "Walk around me!" Then Coyote saw it was Snake.

"Humph!" said Coyote. "When I walk here, I do not wish to walk around anyone at all. You go to one side. Get out of my way!"

Snake replied, "I am here. I have never thought for a moment of giving place to anyone!"

"Even if you think so," said Coyote, "I will run over you."

"If you do so, you shall die," said Snake.

"Why should I die? There is nothing that can kill me," said Coyote.

"Come! Step over me. Do it in spite of me," said Snake. Then Coyote stepped over him. And Snake bit him. But Coyote did not feel it.

"Where is it? You said that if I stepped over you, I should die. Where have I received my death blow?" said Coyote.

Snake made no reply and Coyote walked on. After some time he came to a creek. As he was about to drink, he saw himself in the water. He seemed very fat.

"Whew!" he said. "I was never so before. I am very fat." Saying this, he felt himself all over; but that was all he did. Then he walked on until he felt sleepy. He said, "I am very sleepy." So he pushed his way into the thick grass and fell asleep. Coyote did not wake up. Snake had told the truth.
Which line from the story best illustrates and develops the universal theme?

A He looked all around but saw no one.
B "When I walk here, I do not wish to walk around anyone at all. You go to one side. Get out of my way!"
C "Come! Step over me. Do it in spite of me," said Snake.
D So he pushed his way into the thick grass and fell asleep.

Answer 1

"Come! Step over me. Do it in spite of me," said Snake.

Step-by-step explanation:

I took the test

Answer 2

C: "Come! Step over me. Do it in spite of me," said Snake."

Step-by-step explanation:

Short answer: I took the quiz and it was right :)

Actual answer: looking at the short story really quickly, we see that the coyote did not lesson to snake, even though the snake said that he would kill him

So using the process of elimination we can deduce the right answer from the story

A: He looked around but saw no one there

• that has pretty much nothing to do with anything important, so A is not correct

B: "When I walk here, I do not wish to walk around anyone at all. You go to one side. Get out of my way"

• ok well, the get out of my way part is said by the coyote, but it still has little importance to the story itself.
• it does try and provide a theme, that the coyote never wanted this trouble to begin with, but it is not what we are looking for, so this is not correct

C: "Come! Step over me. Do it in spite of me," said Snake.

• even thought the snake said that his bite was deadly, the coyote did it anyways
• this is said to be that coyote thought that the snake was lying, but he was not. dont underestimate your enemies
• one of themes of this story could be that "intelligence is a powerful tool" (which is the answer to another one of the Omaha tribe theme questions in 6.01 fyi) and since the coyote did not believe the snake and the snake obviously had more intelligence, this is correct!

D: "So he pushed his way into the thick grass and fell asleep."

• do we really need an explanation as to why this is incorrect? i hope not but whatever
• So at the end he died, and yes, you could say that poor actions lead to unfortune consequences, but that is not what the theme they are looking for here is. its also not very informative and is a very weak reason

The answer is C!!

hope this helped ~addison~