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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. Why does Demetrio Macias think his hiding place is safe?

2. To what does Luis Cervantes' old acquaintance compare the men in the revolution?

3. What does the news from the capital say about Huerta?

4. Who kills the leader of the Federal soldiers?

5. Where does Demetrio Macias sleep the night after he leaves home?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Camila expect Luis Cervantes to react when she tells him that Demetrio Macias has been flirting with her?

2. What kind of atmosphere is created as the rebels loot bodies of the soldiers they have killed?

3. Why is Alberto Solis surprised to see Luis Cervantes in Zacatecas?

4. Why does Demetrio Macias not want to take any of the women he admires into the towns they visit?

5. How do the rebels refer to their opponents and why?

6. How do the rebels refer to each other?

7. How is Luis Cervantes greeted when he first comes to the rebel camp?

8. Why does Quail object to Pancracio killing the Federal officer?

9. Why does Demetrio Macias hate Don Monico?

10. Why does the villager tell Demetrio Macias that it doesn't matter how many Federal soldiers are in the barracks?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Margarito's self-hatred explodes when he shoots his own image in the mirror, and then later when he actually commits suicide. Are there other instances of foreshadowing in this story, when the conclusion of events is presaged by a symbolic or similar event? In your essay, show examples of foreshadowing in the plot of this story.

Essay Topic 2

There are many instances in this story of characters justifying immoral actions to themselves. How does Demetrio Macias justify his burning of Don Monico's house? How does Luis Cervantes justify his stealing the diamonds? How do the soldiers justify taking the possessions of the villagers and townspeople where they travel? Use these and other examples to explain the process by which immoral actions are declared by the actors to be morally correct.

Essay Topic 3

How did Azuela acquire his knowledge about the revolution? Was he a primary or a secondary source of information, and what difference does it make? In your essay, take a position for or against the importance of first-hand knowledge in writing historical fiction.

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