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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. How does Harriet's mother respond to the news that Harriet is moving to Mexico?

2. What type of food is served to the old gringo on the night he arrives at the guerrilla camp?

3. How does the army of guerrilla soldiers travel through Mexico?

4. What does the old gringo have marking his grave?

5. With what weapon does General Arroyo threaten Harriet when he hears about her reaction to the fire?

Short Essay Questions

1. What vanities does the old gringo have, and how do the other soldiers respond to them?

2. What childhood memory does Arroyo have of don Graciano?

3. How does the old gringo feel about Harriet Winslow's dreams?

4. What proclamation does Inocencio Mansalvo make at the border of Mexico and America?

5. How does the old gringo win over the general with his Colt .44?

6. Who is General Fierro?

7. How does Harriet figure out who the old gringo truly is?

8. What does Harriet recall about the weather in Mexico during her time there?

9. What is the nature of the conversation which transpires between the old gringo and the man who is selling him his horse?

10. What does Harriet remember about the boy who helped her cross the border into America?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The three main characters in the novel, the old gringo, Harriet, and Arroyo, each have strained relationships with their fathers. Briefly describe the relationship each character had with their father, and then explain how those relationships affected each character into their adulthood.

Essay Topic 2

The role of newspaper reporters has a lot of power in this novel. Explain the role that the written word had first in the old gringo's life during the Civil War, and compare and contrast this impact to the role newspaper journalists had in Harriet's life upon returning home to Mexico.

Essay Topic 3

It becomes clear quite early in the text that the old gringo is running away from his past as he flees to Mexico. Explain the history of events that have happened in the old gringo's life, and how these events inevitably led him to Mexico.

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This section contains 873 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample