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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 many people show up to buy the pearl?

2. Where does Mr. Salazar send Ramun during the negotiations for the pearl?

3. Is Soto Luzon older or younger than Ramun?

4. Who does Luzon suggests listens to people's conversations?

5. Which boat does Ramun travel on?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Ramun dives for pearls in El Diablo's cave, why does he choose the nearest oyster?

2. What three things about the pearl business does Ramun's father want to teach Ramun?

3. Why does Ramun's father close the door to his home workshop when he is examining the pearl?

4. At the beginning of Chapter Five, Ramun feels uneasy when Luzon and he enter Luzon's Lagoon. What does Ramun think is causing his uneasiness?

5. What two errands must Soto Luzon take care of before Ramun and Luzon can leave for Luzon's Lagoon?

6. What does Gaspar Ruiz have tattooed all over his body?

7. What simile does Ramun use to describe how fast the word about the pearl spreads through the town of La Paz?

8. What is Ramun's motivation to give Soto Luzon more money for the black pearl that Luzon brings to the shop?

9. Why do the mothers in Ramun's village tell their children tales of the Manta Diablo?

10. What is the first thing Ramun's father says to the other pearl dealers?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Using details from the text, describe Ramun's quest to become a man. What does Ramun overcome to finally feel like a man? Why does Ramun not feel like a man after the other two major tasks he completed in the novel? How are the three major events tied together, resulting in Ramun's attainment of manhood?

Essay Topic 2

Using details from the text and from class discussions, describe the two greatest happenings in all the history of La Paz. What are the two greatest happenings in all of La Paz? Are the happenings connected? How does Ramun feel about the two greatest happenings in La Paz history?

Essay Topic 3

Using details from the text, compare and contrast the physical appearance of the Manta Diablo as described by Ramun's mother and the other mothers in the village. How do the various descriptions of the Manta Diablo show how a superstition or legend can change over time and from person to person?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 638 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample