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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. How is Eileen described as looking as she rides?

2. Who is waiting for Eileen's group when they return to the Mulkerin ranch?

3. Why does Machado want to wait until the morning to go up against Sean and the others?

4. What does Juan warn Eileen not to do?

5. What does Eileen do with her coat?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens that makes Russell leave the cave?

2. What thoughts run through Eileen's mind while she is thinking about the gold when Juan is resting?

3. What happens to Russell after he leaves the cave?

4. What is the situation at the ranch when Eileen and the others arrive back there?

5. What is Los Angeles like at the time of the setting of "The Californios"?

6. What does Sean say to Wooston and Machado and what are their responses?

7. What are Russell and Francisco doing in the mountains, and why does Francisco anger Russell?

8. Why does Francisco try to convince Russell of and what is Russell's response?

9. Why is Eileen distraught when she and Juan get to the gold?

10. What happens when Eileen goes to wake up Juan?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss one of the following:

1. Define irony in literary terms. Discuss the irony of the situation of how Machado is on somewhat friendly terms with Sean Mulkerin by the end of the book. What other situations contain irony in "The Californios"?

2. Define symbolism in literary terms. Discuss the use and meaning of five symbols you choose to analyze from "The Californios:. What do they symbolize? Is the symbolism obvious? Effective? Does the symbolism contribute to the enjoyment of reading?

3. Discuss five literary devices that occur in "The Californios" and how they are used. Are they effective? Do they add or detract from the reading of the book? Why or why not. Some possible techniques: Allusion, connotation, denouement, dialogue, flashback, figurative language, motif, metaphor, narrator, point of view, simile, mood, and puns.

Essay Topic 2

There are a number of themes that run as a thread throughout "The Californios". Choose one of the following questions and write a well-developed, cohesive essay using examples from the text and your research or personal experience:

1. Trace the development of the theme of superstition. Use specific examples to illustrate how this theme is expressed. Analyze the examples and offer an analysis of how the idea of superstition informs the entire novel.

2. Trace the development of the theme of greed. Use specific examples to illustrate how this theme is expressed. Analyze the examples and offer an analysis of how greed seems to be more a part of the predominant culture of the United States versus that of native cultures.

3. Trace the development of the theme of violence. Use specific examples to illustrate how this theme is expressed. Analyze the examples and offer an analysis as to why this theme is central to the novel's plot.

Essay Topic 3

"The Californios" belongs to the western novel genre. Discuss the following:

1. Define the literary term "genre" and give several examples of three other genres in addition to the fictional memoir genre.

2. Discuss two reasons why it might be useful to label a text by genre and two reasons it might be disadvantageous to label a text by genre.

3. What do you think are the differences between western fiction and a southern fiction?

(see the answer keys)

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