Question

Read the excerpt from The Game of Silence by Louise Erdrich.

Re-read the part of the text where Nokomis meets the memegwesi, from “After I decided not to fall into despair” up to “I could not speak” (starting on page 2).

How does the author create a feeling of suspense and mystery in this part of the story? Answer in RACES format.

Write a paragraph explaining your answer. Support your response with at least two pieces of evidence from the text.

Here's a summarized version of an
Excerpt from The Game of Silence
Louise Erdrich, 2006

In 1850, on an island in Lake Superior, a young Ojibwe girl named Omakayas listens as her grandmother, Nokomis, recounts a story about a memegwesi, a little spirit person who once saved her life. Nokomis, who was raised by her grandparents in isolation, learned many survival skills from her grandfather, Nimishomis. He treated her like a son, teaching her how to fix arrows, hunt moose, set snares, track animals, and even play a love flute. Despite these teachings, Nokomis once became lost in the woods while checking snares and following berry bushes, unable to find her way back.

Answer 1

Restate the question: How does the author create a feeling of suspense and mystery when Nokomis meets the memegwesi? Answer: Erdrich builds suspense by putting Nokomis in danger, then slowing the scene with quiet, specific details and by withholding full explanation of the little spirit, so the meeting feels eerie and uncertain. Cite evidence: Nokomis’s moment of fragile calm — “After I decided not to fall into despair” — is followed by the unnerving discovery that she is “unable to find her way back” while checking snares and following berry bushes, and by her stunned reaction, “I could not speak.” Explain: The opening line about deciding not to despair creates a tense stillness (the calm before something strange happens), and the fact that she is lost raises the stakes and vulnerability; the short, simple sentence “I could not speak” freezes the action and forces the reader to share Nokomis’s awe and fear. At the same time, calling the being a memegwesi — a “little spirit person” who “saved her life” — adds mystery because the creature is supernatural and not fully described, so readers must imagine it. Summarize: By combining danger, quiet-focused language, clipped reactions, and an unexplained supernatural helper, Erdrich keeps the reader in suspense and creates a mysterious, haunting encounter.