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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. When Juan is talking to God, who does he say he needs help for?

2. Why is Victoriano looking through the discarded ore for gold?

3. Where does Don Castro set out from when leaving to start a new community?

4. Where is most of the good firewood found?

5. How long does Don Victor believe it will take his family to gather enough gold to buy their way to the U.S.?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Rose-Mary do to Lupe on her first day of school, and why?

2. What are Don Pio Castro and his brothers looking for when they set out from Mexico City?

3. What effect does the revolution have on Don Castro's village?

4. Why is it so hard for Don Benito to keep the secret that they have discovered gold?

5. Why do the Mexican people seem to think highly of Colonel Maytorena?

6. What is Espirito doing when he finds the gold? Where is the gold found?

7. What happens to the teacher's salary in the little village and what action do the townspeople take when they find out?

8. What is Don Victor's plan to raise enough money for his family to leave for America? How long will this project take?

9. What does Lupe do with the Colonel's gray coat that Socorro throws out?

10. Why are Juan and his family heading north to El Paso?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What purpose does setting have in a literary work? What are some ways or means though which setting is established in this novel? Please provide three examples of settings that can be found in this story.

Essay Topic 2

Please compare and contrast the idea of courting versus today's idea of dating. What is found in this story? Courting or dating? Please explain the scenario in which courting or dating is found in this story, which characters are involved, and how their courtship ends.

Essay Topic 3

The lack of women's rights can be seen through the strike in chapter 19, section 5. Please explain why this is a good example of the lack of women's rights, what was done in response to that lack of rights, and what the outcome of the situation was. Do you agree or disagree with the way this matter is handled?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 825 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample