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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. According to Aragones, who put the General in power?

2. Which item in the palace gives proof to the legend that bullets would pass through the General's body without harming him?

3. What happens to the dogs of the dogfight district during the renewal?

4. Which animal part are the General's hands compared to?

5. How is the lottery rigged so that the General always wins?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do the people react to the General's second death? Why do they react this way?

2. When the hurricane has passed, what does the General do to bolster rebuilding efforts?

3. Who is the only man to survive the meeting of the Federalist Generals and how does he survive?

4. Why does the General stop appearing in the city alongside the group of senators?

5. What is accomplished at the meeting between the Minister of Health, the Minister of Defense, Manuela Sanchez, and the General?

6. How does the General prepare for the coming hurricane?

7. What happens to the Defense Minister?

8. Why are the wild parrots exterminated by the Secret police?

9. Discuss the significance of the cows in the opening scene.

10. How does Saturno Santos come to work for the General and why must he stop?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The human and the supernatural are juxtaposed in this novel. Discuss the role of religion, fate and omens in the novel. How do these notions factor into the plot of the novel and the overall message of the work? How is religion treated in the novel? How does the General respond to fate and markers of that fate? Provide support from the novel to strengthen your argument.

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the novel, Garcia Marquez seamlessly slides between narrative voices ranging from the group of citizens who find the General's body to the General to the school girl the General molests. How would you describe this form of narration? Is it stream of consciousness? Is it free indirect discourse (a technique in which the novelist enters the minds of multiple characters to present different perspectives)? Do their stories line up or are they divergent? Are there contradictions within the narrative? What is the overall effect of these various voices? Support your essay with details from the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is renown for his masterful manipulation of magical realism in his fiction. Address the absurd and fantastical elements in the novel. What is the intended effect of these outrageous elements? How does this contribute to the political commentary in the novel? Provide evidence from the novel to support your assertions.

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This section contains 985 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample