View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Paz, what is death in modern thought?

2. How does the philosophy of progress treat death?

3. According to Paz's argument, what is the source of the North American's irritation with the pachuco?

4. According to Paz, why does the liar tell lies to himself?

5. Chapter Three begins with the great effect that fiestas and public celebrations have. What is this effect?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the modern murderer different from a murderer of the past? How has modernity contributed to that difference?

2. How does Mexico's poverty relate to the fiesta? What French interpretation did it inspire?

3. Who represents the conflict that Mexicans have not been able to solve? What effect does that conflict have on their culture?

4. What is Paz's understanding of woman? How does it fit the Mexican mindset?

5. According to Alarcon, why does the liar lie to himself? Given what you know of the Mexican mindset, does that make sense?

6. How did the Aztecs view sin? How does that idea explain the Conquest? What enormous change did Catholicism introduce?

7. How does North American culture view the pachuco? Does the pachuco accept or reject that culture's perception of him?

8. "The pachuco has lost his whole inheritance: Language, religion, customs, and beliefs. He is left with only a body and a soul with which to confront the elements" (Chapter One, pg 15). Is that a true statement?

9. How does Paz explain the Mexican woman's role in society? How does that strip her of her personality?

10. Who is the Virgin of Guadalupe? How is she an important part of Mexican identity?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

"Man is alone everywhere. But the solitude of the Mexican, under the great stone night of the high plateau that is still inhabited by insatiable gods, is very different from that of the North American, who wanders in an abstract world of machines, fellow citizens and moral precepts" (Chapter One, pg 20). What does that mean? Is it true?

Essay Topic 2

What personal experiences did Paz pull from to write the book? How did he incorporate them into the broader scope of Mexican history? How did that affect the tone?

Essay Topic 3

What connections exist between love and solitude? What dangers exist within them? How does the Mexican break through the bonds of both? Clearly address and explain Paz's arguments, especially toward the end of the book.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,733 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample