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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 "August 25, 1983," what is the young Borges told?
(a) He will write his great book.
(b) The time of his death.
(c) He has never been a writer.
(d) He has committed blasphemy.

2. In "Museum--On Exactitude in Science," how big are the maps of the Empire?
(a) The size of regular maps.
(b) As big as the Empire.
(c) The size of stamps.
(d) They can only be seen with microscopes.

3. In "Delia Elena San Marco," what does the narrator wonder after the death of his beloved?
(a) Whether he can speak to her soul again.
(b) Why he ever loved her in the first place.
(c) If she secretly despised him.
(d) If her death was more painful than she let on.

4. In "Shakespeare's Memory," what do Shakespeare's memories do for Hermann?
(a) Give him some very small success, but mostly overwhelm him.
(b) Make him realize Shakespeare's inadequacy, and how Shakespeare had somehow duped countless millions into believing in his greatness.
(c) Make him catatonic.
(d) Allow him to become the reigning poet of the earth.

5. In "The Congress," why does the Congress fall apart?
(a) Its founder goes bankrupt.
(b) Internal political battles ruin it.
(c) It is disbanded by some Socialists.
(d) All its members mysteriously fall ill.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Undr," what does Ulf do to avoid execution?

2. In "In Memoriam, JFK," JFK's assassination is similar to what event?

3. In "The Book of Sand," what does the narrator do with the book at the end?

4. In "The Maker," what does the father give the protagonist when he is a boy?

5. What does the narrator hypothesize is the cause of the fight in "The Encounter"?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "The Interloper," do the Nelson brothers have any redeeming qualities?

2. In "The Rose of Paracelsus," why doesn't Paracelsus turn the ashes of the rose into a rose for the young man?

3. Is there a contradiction to the argument in "Argumentum Ornithologicum"?

4. In "Borges and I," who are the two Borgeses, and what is the relationship between them?

5. What does "The Disk" say about greed?

6. In "Undr," is there any suggestion that "Undr" or "wonder" really isn't the only sacred word of the Urns?

7. In "Covered Mirrors," what is the narrator's attitude toward mirrors?

8. In "The Gospel According to Mark," why do the Gutres want to crucify Baltasar?

9. In "The Duel," what is the nature of the duel between Clara and Marta?

10. In "The Yellow Rose," what is Marino's epiphany?

(see the answer keys)

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