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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 did the walkers feel about the Coyote who wanted the group to change its plan?

2. Which of the walkers had the most American money with him?

3. What alternate plan did one of the Coyotes suggest after it became clear they were lost?

4. What cardinal direction was the direction of death in the ancient beliefs held by some of the men from Veracruz?

5. Who was the "little fat man" (85) that joined Mendez on the walk through the Devil's Highway?

Short Essay Questions

1. What caused the group to break apart after they pressed on without Mendez?

2. Why did Mendez tell the men to pretend that they were going to San Luis?

3. What disagreement emerges between Santos and Mendez?

4. How does Urrea describe Reymundo Sr.'s treatment of his son?

5. What happens to the expedition led by Santos?

6. What disrupted the walkers' plans at Bluebird Pass?

7. What happened to the Coyotes after they abandoned the walkers?

8. Why were officials skeptical when Mendez claimed that he planned to return for the walkers?

9. Why did the Border Patrol agents fail to recognize Mendez?

10. How does Urrea explain the low quality of budget border motels?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Though The Devil's Highway is a non-fiction book, in incorporates many poeticized and fictionalized passages. Choose one or more passages from the book incorporating a poetic or literary technique such as stanzas, dialogue, metaphor, personification, symbolism, or character development. Explain how the technique is used in the passage, both justifying your choice as an example of the technique specified and analyzing the effect the technique's usage has on the reader. Conclude by explaining how the use of this technique impacts the book's truthfulness.

Essay Topic 2

Despite being an entirely natural space, the desert of The Devil's Highway is often described in language connoting artificial, alien, or supernatural forces. Cite evidence from the text to demonstrate one of these patterns in Urrea's word choice and the context in which this rhetoric is employed. Conclude by explaining the influence these decisions have on Urrea's characterization of the desert.

Essay Topic 3

Economic forces drive and support many of the events described over the course of the Devil's Highway and Urrea goes into some detail describing them. Write a paper analyzing Urrea's presentation of the significance of these forces. Use details from the text to describe the economic influences at play, interpret Urrea's analysis, and respond with your own critique or elaboration upon Urrea's thinking.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 692 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample