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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 is it that Fulgor wants to remember to tell don Pedro about his upcoming marriage?

2. Whose wedding dress is Dolores invited to wear?

3. Who sleeps next to Pedro on his wedding night?

4. What is the official charge against Toribio Aldrete?

5. What does the woman think Juan does?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why are the two women that Juan encounters in the street worried?

2. Why is Eduviges convinced that Juan does not meet Abundio on the road to Comala?

3. Describe the encounter between Father Rentería and María Dyada after Eduviges' death.

4. How does the woman explain her sin during confession?

5. What does the burro driver tell Juan about how don Pedro treats women?

6. Describe the relationship between don Pedro and Dolores.

7. What clues are you given as to the boy's family's financial situation?

8. Describe the memory Pedro has of Susana as he sits in the privy.

9. How do Pedro and Dolores part ways?

10. What does Juan Preciado hope to accomplish by finding his father?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The point of view in the novel changes often from 1st person narration to third person. Find at least one example each of first person narration and third person narration and explain how it shifts the reader's attention to the character and plot. Make sure you indicate who the narrator is in the first person example. In the first person example, what does the reader know (or suspect) that the narrator does not?

Essay Topic 2

Juan's descent into Comala is like an ascension into hell. Later the reader learns that Comala's dead remain in the town as a purgatory. Select three of the following characters and explain why their ghosts are stuck in Comala:

- Dorotea

- Eduviges

- Susana

- Juan

- Abundio

Address how each of their stories help the reader learn more about Pedro and his life.

Essay Topic 3

One of the themes that runs through the novel is the nature of redemption and hope in a person's life. Select one of the following characters and explain what gives them hope during their lives:

- Juan

- Pedro

- Susana

- Dolores

- Dorotea

Address how (or if) they are able to find any sort of redemption in the afterlife. How do you know this from the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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