View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. At the end of Chapter 24, what does Maga say she does not want to do with Rocamadour?

2. What are Maga and Horacio doing in the Quai de Megisserie in Chapter 8?

3. What modern form of execution is described in Chapter 114?

4. What does Horacio do when Maga starts crying in Chapter 12?

5. Who is Valentin?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Horacio get slapped by Bertha Trepat in Chapter 23?

2. How does Horacio meet Berthe Trepat?

3. What is Horacio doing in the Ponts des Arts in Chapter 1?

4. Why are Maga and Horacio so affected by the fish in Chapter 8?

5. How are La Maga and Horacio different?

6. Why does Horacio become resentful of La Maga in Chapter 12?

7. What event is taking place in this section?

8. What awful event does Maga describe in Chapter 15?

9. What criticism does Maga make of Horacio at the end of Chapter 3?

10. Why is La Maga irate in Chapter 93?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss in an essay the virtue of empathy as it relates to Horacio. As a protagonist, does Horacio seem to have empathy for anyone? Is he essentially a selfish human being? Cite examples from his time in Paris to justify your answers to the above prompts. Discuss his evening with Berthe Trepat as a fierce determination to show empathy to another person. Why does he do this and how does it fail? In his final moment in the novel, does Horacio make a decision based on empathy for those he loves or selfishness?

Essay Topic 2

Julio Cortazar juxtaposed two couples in the novel: Horacio and La Maga, and Manolo and Talita Traveler. Write an essay comparing and contrasting these couples and exploring how the author juxtaposes them. How do both intensely doubt the validity of their love? What is their reason for feeling this way? Which seems to be the stronger couple? In summation, why do you think one relationship survives and the other falls apart?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about Manolo Traveler. What does he want out of life, and how does his position at the circus and in the community make this impossible? What does he fear regarding his marriage with Talita? Write an analysis of the delicate connection to happiness Manu has in his life and how how the destructive arrival of Horacio seems the imperil his very life. In the end, Talita thinks the madness brought by Horacio makes the marriage stronger. Why is this?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,002 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample