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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 does the American say to himself after he hears forty-four explosions?

2. What was the name of the war that began in 1899?

3. What does the Colonel fear the planes will hit when they fly low over the army base?

4. What is the name of the Colonel's oldest son?

5. What famous American building does Pablo pose in front of with his son Juan Pablo?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Busby want the American military to stay in Colombian?

2. How do the locals react to Pablo's death?

3. How did Gacha die?

4. What does Martinez think is Escobar's weakness?

5. How is Pablo raising money for his war against the state?

6. How does Lara devastate the Colombian drug trade?

7. How does Pablo manage to stay out of prison?

8. Why is Escobar's sentence easy while in prison?

9. How does Pablo get a bomb aboard the commercial airline?

10. Why is the author doubtful that Escobar attacked the police just before he died?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How important was Gaitan to Colombia? How does his assassination change the situation in Colombia at this point? What would have happened to Colombia if he had stayed alive?

Essay Topic 2

How does Escobar manipulate the different groups in Colombian society to maintain his power? How does Escobar deal with people that stand in his way? How does the way he deals with people contribute to his downfall?

Essay Topic 3

Choose one of the following and discuss how it affects the tone of the book and helps to express character and theme.

1. Setting

2. Point of view

3. Structure

4. Language

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 798 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample