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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through The Day of the Dead.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When does the pachuco become his true self?
(a) When his life explodes.
(b) When he is alone.
(c) When he is in Mexico.
(d) When he is surrounded by fellow Mexicans.

2. In Latin America, what was the importance of Jose Gorostiza's poem, Muerte sin Fin?
(a) It was the best evidence of a truly modern awareness.
(b) It presented the Spanish conquest through the eyes of modernity.
(c) It was the last example of the colonial mindset.
(d) It presented the best example of the Mexican fascination with horror.

3. Why is death a part of the fiesta (Chapter Three)?
(a) Because people often get drunk and violent.
(b) Because exuberant death is honorable.
(c) Because the Mexican seeks to escape from himself.
(d) Because Mexico celebrates all aspects of life, even the end.

4. As Paz begins Chapter Two, he says that the Mexican is always afraid to glance at his neighbor. What reason does he give for that?
(a) The glance could reveal his isolation.
(b) His neighbor is a pathetic version of himself.
(c) The glance could spark rage.
(d) His neighbor reveals the disillusioned character of Mexico.

5. Chapter Three begins with the great effect that fiestas and public celebrations have. What is this effect?
(a) They bring people together with unusual dynamics.
(b) They stop the flow of time.
(c) They increase man's sense of his mortality.
(d) They emphasize man's individuality.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the pachuco represent in Paz's writing?

2. Why did Catholicism drastically change the Aztec view of life?

3. How does a man become "like the angels" (Chapter Three, page 61)?

4. In Paz's understanding of genders, how do Mexican women become like men?

5. As the closure to Chapter Two, the reader sees what shadow spreading out over Mexico?

(see the answer key)

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