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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 "Three Versions of Judas," what is the first version of Judas?
(a) He is God.
(b) The same traitorous version as the Bible.
(c) He was not actually involved in the Bible.
(d) He is the human side of Jesus.

2. In "Hakim, the Masked Dyer of Merv," Hakim's religious sect hates what things?
(a) Knives.
(b) Mirrors and copulation.
(c) Gloves.
(d) Bibles.

3. In "The Theologians," what best describes Borges's characterization of theological disputes?
(a) They are necessary and useful means of achieving immutable truth.
(b) They are clear-cut: there is a good side and a bad side.
(c) They are absurd, contradictory, and essentially lead to madness.
(d) They are pleasant means of expressing one's ideas.

4. In "The Zahir," how does the narrator rid himself of the coin?
(a) He loses it.
(b) He never gets rid of it.
(c) He spends it.
(d) He puts it in a bowl of coins to forget the original.

5. In "A Survey of the Works of Herbert Quain," what work of Quain's is actually successful?
(a) "Herbert Quain: Autobiography in Verse."
(b) "Lo, lo, the Westward Crowd."
(c) "April March."
(d) "The Lament of Euripides."

Short Answer Questions

1. In "The Improbable Impostor Tom Castro," who convinces Tom to create a fake identity?

2. In "The Two Kings and the Two Labyrinths," what is the labyrinth in which the King of Babylon is imprisoned?

3. In "Death and the Compass," where is Dr. Yarmolinsky killed?

4. In "The Theme of the Traitor and the Hero," what does the historian, Ryan, do when he discovers the truth behind the assassination?

5. In "The Lottery in Babylon," who sometimes arbitrates the result of a lottery drawing?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "Man on the Pink Corner," why does Rosendo disappear and then come back when challenged by the Yardmaster?

2. What does "Story of the Warrior and the Captive Maiden" say about the nature of human identity?

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

4. In "Emma Zunz," how does Emma exact revenge on Lowenthal for her father's death?

5. In "The Theme of the Traitor and the Hero," why does Kilpatrick participate in his own assassination?

6. In "House of Asterion," is there anything sympathetic about Asterion?

7. In "Pierre Menard, Author of Quixote," Menard wants to rewrite Cervantes' novel word for word. Why does he want to pursue such an exercise in seeming futility?

8. How does Borges portray theological disputes in "The Theologians"?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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