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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 Mirror of Ink," what does the ruler want the sorcerer to show him?
(a) The face of a man who is to be executed.
(b) The fate of his wife.
(c) The winner of a horse race.
(d) The secret activities of another ruler.

2. In "The Other Death," how does the author suggest that Damian could be both a hero and a coward?
(a) He doesn't; Damian is portrayed as strictly a hero.
(b) Though he fled from the battlefield, 40 years later on his deathbed, Damian, through a miracle, wills himself to be a hero.
(c) He conveys how Damian would run, then fight, run, then fight, continuously during the battle.
(d) He doesn't; Damian is portrayed as only a coward.

3. In "The House of Asterion," Asterion is what mythological creature?
(a) Cyclops.
(b) A Minotaur.
(c) Centaur.
(d) Satyr.

4. In "The Secret Miracle," what happens to extend Hladik's life for a time?
(a) God freezes time for a year.
(b) Due to a paperwork mistake, another man is killed instead of Hladik, and the mistake is not uncovered for some time.
(c) Hladik is able to escape for a while.
(d) The Nazi's decide to postpone the execution.

5. In "Funes, His Memory," how is Funes crippled?
(a) A horseback riding injury.
(b) He falls from a roof.
(c) A bookcase of heavy books topples on him.
(d) He is shot.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "The South," what is Dahlmann challenged to do outside a bar?

2. In "Hakim, the Masked Dyer of Merv," Hakim is revealed to have what disease?

3. In "The Cult of the Phoenix," what objects are involved in their rituals?

4. In "The Widow Ching--Pirate," what does the second Imperial fleet do when they encounter Ching?

5. In "Emma Zunz," where does Emma get a gun?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. In "The Widow Ching--Pirate," Ching becomes a pirate, but does she have any virtuous qualities, even in this criminal profession?

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

5. In "Funes, His Memory," is Funes's prodigious memory a good thing or a bad thing?

6. In "The Improbable Impostor Tom Castro," what is Tom's relationship to Ebenezer Bogle?

7. "The Two Kings and the Two Labyrinths" ends with the words, "Glory to Him who does not die." Who is the one "who does not die," and what is the reason for this invocation?

8. In "The Circular Ruins," a man creates another man in a dream and ultimately discovers that he is a dream himself. Is Borges making a possible connection to the artistic process?

9. "The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim" is a review of a book that does not exist. How is this significant?

10. In "The Wait," what does Villari do when his assassins actually show up? Why does he do this?

(see the answer keys)

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