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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Justina doing as Susana talks to her?

2. Why does Susana want Justina to leave?

3. In what month does Susana die?

4. How long does don Pedro wait for Susana's return?

5. When Father Rentería returns from his walk, who does he learn is waiting for him?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does don Pedro avenge his father's death?

2. What happens when the revolutionaries come to don Pedro's house?

3. Why does Susana reject Father Rentería in her last living moments?

4. Why is Villalpando in such a bad mood?

5. What does doña Inés want Abundio to tell his dead wife?

6. Why does don Pedro want Susana's father to disappear in the mines?

7. How does don Pedro deal with Susana's death?

8. Why does Susana think Father Rentería has come to see her?

9. What does Gerardo's wife tell him before he visits don Pedro?

10. What deal does don Pedro make with Susana's father?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The point of view in the novel changes often from 1st person narration to third person. Find at least one example each of first person narration and third person narration and explain how it shifts the reader's attention to the character and plot. Make sure you indicate who the narrator is in the first person example. In the first person example, what does the reader know (or suspect) that the narrator does not?

Essay Topic 2

"Pedro Páramo" has several structural elements that appear often in Modernist and Surrealist literature. Explain how the novel uses the following:

- Circular narrative

- Stories within stories

- Setting shifts

How do each of these contribute to the development of the plot.

Essay Topic 3

Pedro has very different relationships with the three sons that we meet in the novel: Juan, Abundio, and Miguel. Compare and contrast his relationship with his three sons. Address the following:

- Legitimate versus illegitimate status

- Are his sons good or evil?

- How has being the son of Pedro Páramo affected each son's life for better or worse?

After comparing and contrasting the relationship Pedro has with his three sons, explain whether or not you think Pedro is a truly evil father? Does he do anything right? Using clues from the text, describe what you think Pedro's relationship is like with his own father? How do you think this affects his relationship with his own sons?

(see the answer keys)

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