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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. Which of the following objects was NOT among the items bearing the General's face?

2. What substance does the General give to Patricio Aragones as he lays dying?

3. What happens to the crocodiles after the sack of the palace?

4. Which smell accompanies Manuela Sanchez?

5. What does the General bring to Manuela Sanchez?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who were the Federalists?

2. Describe the General's relationship with his mother

3. How is the lottery system rigged?

4. Why does the General relocate his mother to a mansion in the suburbs?

5. What happens at the meeting of the Federalist Generals?

6. How does Patricio Aragones feel toward the President?

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

8. How does the good fishwife unwittingly prove her loyalty to the General? Describe her actions.

9. How does Manuela Sanchez respond to the appearance of the comet?

10. Which group is the exception to the General's rebuilding policy?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

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

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.

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This section contains 853 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample