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

Short Answer Questions

1. What do Talita and Traveler hear outside their window at the end of Chapter 45?

2. Who is Horacio thinking about in Chapter 48?

3. In Chapter 80, to what does Horacio liken madness?

4. In Chapter 37, what does traveler do when Cuca and Talita gossip in his apartment?

5. Which two characters arrive at Morelli's flat in Chapter 91?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Traveler and Horacio put Talita in a ridiculous position in Chapter 41?

2. Describe Manolo and Talia Traveler's lives in Buenos Aires.

3. What is revealed in the tape recording of Chapter 47?

4. What cold comfort does Horacio offer La Maga in Chapter 108?

5. What dream does Horacio have in Chapter 123, and what does Etienne take from it?

6. What indiscretion does Horacio commit in Chapter 54?

7. How does the novel end?

8. In Chapter 56, how does Horacio protect himself after he kisses Talita?

9. What is Horacio's state of mind in this section?

10. What task does Morelli give Horacio and Etienne in Chapter 154?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Horacio Oliveira is a callous, self-involved, deeply-jealous individual. He is, however, the novel's protagonist, and Cortazar reveals both his flaws and virtues through a series of foils. Write an essay about three of these foils. How does Horacio know each of them? What is the nature of the conflict that exists between him and each foil? What does this conflict reveal about both Horacio and the foil?

Part 1) La Maga

Part 2) Ossip Gregorovius

Part 3) Manolo Traveler

Essay Topic 2

An emotional change occurs in Horacio between the death of Rocamadour and Horacio's arrival in Buenos Aires. He tells Ossip he wants anonymity and develops a plan for his relationship with the Travelers. Write an essay about this shift from sensation to observation in Horacio. What does he want from Manu and Talita, and how does he go about getting it? Whom does he have to use in the process? Discuss how this attempt at dispassion eventually pushes him into a sort of madness. What is Cortazar saying about the need to express emotion, no matter how painful?

Essay Topic 3

What is the millenary kingdom? Write an essay about this prelapsarian concept, where it comes from, and how it connects thematically with the events of the novel. What does the millenary kingdom mean to both Morelli and Horacio? Why do Etienne and Ronald think that La Maga had some innate connection to it? How is the entire Serpent Club, to some extent, existing in its own millenary kingdom until Rocamadour dies? How does this death force them all to face harsh realities? Conclude the essay by discussing whether the millenary kingdom is seen as a positive or negative thing.

(see the answer keys)

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