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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. What "savage little maze" (113) did the men enter after Bluebird Pass?

2. How old was Mendez, compared to most of the walkers?

3. What time did the men say it was when they met with Mendez?

4. How did Don Moi feel to hear the travelers laughing on the bus?

5. Why did the men travel so slowly up the sandy desert hills?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did the Cercas gang like working with brothers?

2. What mistake did the Coyotes make when the men arrived at the big rock?

3. Why did Mendez tell the men to pretend that they were going to San Luis?

4. What happened to the Coyotes after they abandoned the walkers?

5. Why were officials skeptical when Mendez claimed that he planned to return for the walkers?

6. What did the walkers discuss with their Coyotes on the morning of May 21?

7. What happens to the expedition led by Santos?

8. What are the initial signs of heat stress?

9. Why did Reymundo Sr. tear up his American money?

10. Why did the Border Patrol agents fail to recognize Mendez?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The journey of the Wellton 26 was undertaken entirely by people identified within the text as male. Write an essay analyzing the role that gender plays in Urrea's depiction of this deadly crossing. Use evidence from the text and any outside research you may require to analyze how codes of masculinity influence the walkers' motives, belief, or behavior.

Essay Topic 2

Urrea goes into great detail about interactions between law enforcement and border crossers, describing popular perceptions of both groups and comparing them to his personal findings. Write an essay using The Devil's Highway as a basis to analyze the impact of law enforcement on the safety of border crossing. Conclude by suggesting which policies described within the book seem to have the best outcomes for human safety.

Essay Topic 3

Urrea writes in the afterword, "The border can be seen either as a hideous scare that binds two warring cultures together.... Or it can be seen as an imaginary line that unites overlapping human tribes" (234). Write an essay comparing and contrasting these two visions of the border. Cite passages in the text that correspond to either vision, analyzing Urrea's rhetoric and choice of details to determine which vision is expressed.

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This section contains 732 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample