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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "The Man on the Threshold," why is Judge Glencairn sent to the location where he disappears?
(a) He is seeing a doctor.
(b) He is going to review some legislation.
(c) There are riots.
(d) He is going to a tryst.

2. In "The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim," who or what is Al-Mu'tasim supposed to be?
(a) An magnificent oasis.
(b) A sect of Islam.
(c) A holy man.
(d) An obscure language.

3. In "The Dead Man," why does Otalora first have to leave Argentina?
(a) He seeks a cure for a strange disease.
(b) He owes back taxes.
(c) He has slept with a woman whose husband pursues him.
(d) He has killed a man.

4. In "The Writing of God," how can Tzinacan escape?
(a) By reciting the Bible.
(b) With a mysterious hacksaw he finds.
(c) By reading the fourteen words on the animal beside him.
(d) By bribing one corrupt guard.

5. In "A Survey of the Works of Herbert Quain," Quain's work can best be described as which of the following?
(a) Seemingly pornographic, but with a religious message embedded within.
(b) Straightforward.
(c) Coded to teach medical students how to perform surgery.
(d) Bizarrely structured, and based on outrageous and esoteric themes.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "The Theologians," what best describes Borges's characterization of theological disputes?

2. In "The Aleph," where is the Aleph located?

3. In "The Shape of the Sword," what do we learn of Vincent Moon'?

4. In "Death and the Compass," what character flaw leads Lonnrot to his death?

5. In "The Immortal," which of the following best describes the result of attaining immortality?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "Three Versions of Judas," what are the three ways Runeberg portrays Judas?

2. In "The Aleph," what is the narrator's attitude toward Carlos Argentino?

3. In "The Zahir," what is a possible reason for the narrator becoming obsessed with the coin?

4. In "A Survey of the Works of Herbert Quain," why is Herbert upset at the success of "April March"?

5. In "The Dead Man," why does Bandeira allow Otalora to sleep with his woman and enjoy a sense of power?

6. In "The End," does the black man who plays his guitar and continually waits outside the bar get what he has been waiting for?

7. In "The Lottery in Babylon," what could the lottery symbolize?

8. In "The Man on the Threshold," why do the people pretend that they do not know what happened to Glencairn when the investigator asks them?

9. In "The South," how does Dahlmann feel about his imminent death in a knife fight?

10. In "The Library of Babel," the imaginary library of the title is an allusion to the Tower of Babel. How is this appropriate?

(see the answer keys)

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