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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 was the last time the General was seen in public?

2. The General agonizes over a scrap of paper. What does it read?

3. Where do the armed forces maintain order during the investigation of Bendicion's life?

4. What is Death wearing when she arrives?

5. What prompts the General to have all of Leticia's food inspected?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the General learn how to read?

2. How does Jose Ignacio Saenz de la Barra attempt to undermine the General?

3. Describe the first assassination attempt against the General's wife and son.

4. Who is actually running the government by the end of Chapter 5?

5. How does Monsignor Demetrius Aldous investigate Bendicion Alvarado for sainthood?

6. How does Leticia force the General to marry her?

7. What happens to Monsignor Demetrius Aldous as he concludes his investigation of the General's mother?

8. Describe Jose Ignacio Saenz de la Barra.

9. What does Bendicion Alvarado try to tell the General as she is dying?

10. Explain how the Caribbean Sea becomes U.S. property.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the treatment of children in this novel. At various stages of the General's rule, we are confronted with potentially disturbing treatment of children. From the indiscriminate fathering of thousands of children to the imprisonment and slaughter of the two thousand children under seven whose job it is to control the lottery, the General commits many acts of violence against children. Why does Garcia Marquez include these acts in the novel? What does this treatment accomplish? How does it affect our perception of the General? Provide specific details from the novel as support for your claims.

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the way in which Gabriel Garcia Marquez treats politics and dictatorships in the novel. What is he saying about dictatorship? Does his General resemble any historical dictators? If so, what effect does this resemblance have on the purpose of the book? Be sure to provide specific evidence from the text as you write your essay.

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the novel, General Saturno Santos is referred to as "the Indian." How does Garcia Marquez treat the indigenous culture and people of "the nation"? Why is Santos consistently referred to as the Indian? How does this character reflect on the indigenous people of "the nation"? Be sure to consider the colonial history of the nation and its effect on the people.

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