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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. What is the angel's response when Rufina asks what the angel has planned for her brother?

2. From where are the Sotos?

3. What was not included in Rosalinda’s escape to this town?

4. Why did a young teen beat up Rafa?

5. Why had the Sotos come?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the signs that Rufina is struggling to perform for the crowd? Why is she struggling?

2. How does "Saturday," Chapter Thirteen, end?

3. Why does Rufina wake up in a sweat on Saturday morning in Chapter One?

4. What does the narrator tell the reader about the flute deity?

5. What is the experience of the couple that are on holiday on Saturday?

6. Who are the townspeople in "Saturday," Chapter Two that the narrator describes?

7. What is the ride home like for the siblings in Lucio Armijo’s squad car?

8. What is the secret The Explorer has about himself?

9. What does the angel do when Rufina is in the trunk?

10. What does Officer Armijo do with the Kid Thief after he drops the siblings off at their home?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout this book the tourists are seen as a necessary evil. White privilege runs rampant, yet the tourists are oblivious to it. Why are they oblivious? What could be done to change the relating between the tourists and locals? How is this significant and relevant to our current times?

Essay Topic 2

The angel is a celestial being, yet she is very sympathetic to grief, particularly the grief of Rufina and Rafa. Why might she be this way? What is her special connection with these siblings? How does this affect her actions in the story?

Essay Topic 3

Child abuse becomes much more apparent in “Saturday.” What abuse is described by the narrator? How are the various characters affected by it? How does this abuse affect the story? How is abuse related to the theme of resiliency?

(see the answer keys)

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