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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. Who does Aguila take Harry to visit?

2. Gana, Dance, and Arpis were all found dead during the DEA raid. Who does Harry discover killed them in Chapter 32?

3. Why was the old man--Guitierrez-Llosa--killed?

4. Harry also calls Teresa Corazon in Chapter 23 to find out if Porter's murder was connected to any others. What does he find out?

5. Who pays Harry an unexpected visit at the bullfight?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Dance look like in the photograph Harry has brought with him to Mexico?

2. How did Aguila decide to report the missing person who ended up Juan Doe, when Mexico does not even have a missing persons bureau?

3. What is Corvo's most notable facial feature?

4. How did Moore switch his own fingerprints?

5. How does Harry recognize Corvo at the bar in Chapter 17?

6. Why was Cal Moore still going to get a hero's funeral?

7. How does Harry explain the fact that the suicide body had the same tattoo as Moore?

8. Describe what it is like when Harry drives back across the border.

9. What is the atmosphere of the bar like when Harry meets DEA agent Corvo in Chapter 17?

10. What is CLET and what functions does it perform?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many of the best and most successful mysteries are structured through withholding information. Whether it is a first person narrator who is unreliable, or characters who lie to each other or the reader, this kind of information mediation is a key technique of fiction writing. Construct a thesis that responds to Connelly's use of this technique and the way he withholds information from the reader or from his characters and write an argumentative essay.

Essay Topic 2

Point of view technique mediates the flow of information between author and reader. Write an essay that analyzes the point of view of this novel. Offer detailed descriptions of how the narrative voice actually tells the story. Finally, critique the point of view by offering your analytical opinion about how it enhanced (or did not enhance) the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Considering Anzaldua's way of reading the border and the theory of contact zones, write an essay that explains these two terms. Drawing on the roles--as setting, as symbol, as plot device, as mood--the borderline plays in this novel, offer a detailed, text-based analysis of this way of reading. You should pick at least 5 fictional elements to describe, using textual examples.

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