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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. To what does Noemí compare Francis in Chapter 9?

2. How did Noemí’s father earn his wealth, as revealed in Chapter 1?

3. What color does Noemí see glimmering in Virgil’s eyes at the end of Chapter 11?

4. According to Francis at the end of Chapter 12, what was it impossible to do?

5. What modern comfort is missing from the Doyle family home, as revealed in Chapter 2?

Short Essay Questions

1. What bargain does Noemí strike with her father in Chapter 1?

2. What is the Doyle family symbol, as Virgil explains in Chapter 8? What does it represent?

3. What happens when Dr. Camarillo visits Catalina in Chapter 8?

4. What bad dream does Noemí experience in Chapter 11?

5. Who was Aurelio? What does Noemí learn about him in Chapter 12?

6. What does the reader learn about El Triunfo in Chapter 2?

7. What odd dream does Noemí have at the end of Chapter 5?

8. Who is Dr. Camarillo and what does he tell Noemí in Chapter 6?

9. What does Noemí discover upon awakening from her nightmare in Chapter 11?

10. What happens in the nightmare Noemí experiences at the end of Chapter 7?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The antagonist of a novel is a character or force who works in opposition to the protagonist. Who is the antagonist of the novel? Virgil Doyle? Howard Doyle? Or someone—or something—else? What do you think? Make a case for that which you believe best fits the criteria of an antagonist in Mexican Gothic.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay analyzing how the author uses characters and behaviors to develop and strengthen the theme of racial and cultural exploitation.

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the author’s choice to tell this story by using a third-person perspective. How does viewing the action through a third-person perspective affect the story? How would the novel change if the story was told through the first person?

(see the answer keys)

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