View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does the old woman describe Makina’s brother?

2. Which statue does Makina need to look for next?

3. What did Makina’s brother eat until he recovered after discovering there was nothing at the land he had gone to see?

4. Which direction does Makina have to go, to get to the first suggested place?

5. What does Makina write on after a cop tells her to do something?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who does Makina find at the address she gets from the restaurant?

2. What does the arresting cop tell Makina when he corrals her with the other immigrants?

3. What happened when Makina’s brother came back from the war?

4. What were the three messages Makina’s brother sent home?

5. How does the narrator describe the boy whose place Makina’s brother took, in the army?

6. Why does Makina’s brother say he did not return after the land fiasco?

7. What does Makina learn about her brother from the old woman?

8. How does Makina free herself and the others who have been collected by the cop?

9. What does Makina think she will do if they tell her bad news?

10. How does the narrator describe Makina's transition from one city to the next?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Who is the audience for Signs Preceding the End of the World? What is the ideal reader for Signs Preceding the End of the World likely to think about the book’s main topics? How does this book try to affect the reader? What is it trying to teach him or her, or get him or her to do?

Essay Topic 2

How does Herrera describe American culture in Signs Preceding the End of the World? Is he critical and judgmental? Is he aiming for truth and accuracy? What does his depiction of American culture accomplish?

Essay Topic 3

Explore the role of the helper characters in Signs Preceding the End of the World. From Chucho to the old women and men, Makina gets assistance from a number of places. What do these supporting characters have in common? How do they compare to the characters who threaten Makina? What do those characters have in common as well?

What are the values that animate supporting characters on either side? How do these supporting characters, both benevolent and threatening, imply competing world views?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 835 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample