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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Paz's argument, what is the source of the North American's irritation with the pachuco?
(a) He does not know how to relate to the pachuco.
(b) He sees the pachuco as a mythical figure, and thus dangerous.
(c) He sees the pachuco as an invader.
(d) He sees the pachuco as a threat to North American society.

2. In his obsession with hygiene, work, and health, what does the North American miss?
(a) True joy.
(b) All-consuming love.
(c) True anger.
(d) Truth.

3. What is the Spanish view of women in contrast to the Mexican?
(a) Women are shaped by the minds of men.
(b) Women are decent and modest.
(c) Women are idols.
(d) Women are wild and lecherous.

4. How are the evil words a sign and seal?
(a) They project the result that they will bring.
(b) They seal the intention of the speaker.
(c) They pull men out of their solitude.
(d) They identify fellow Mexicans among strangers.

5. What connotation does the verb, chingar, carry?
(a) Failure.
(b) Violation.
(c) Disaster.
(d) Mythical power.

6. Why do Mexicans tell lies (Chapter Two)?
(a) To protect the other person.
(b) Merely for the enjoyment of it.
(c) To hide themselves.
(d) To create confusion.

7. What model do Mexicans prefer that the woman follow?
(a) A model of strength, praise, and fortitude.
(b) The model of The Virgin Mary - chaste and kind.
(c) A general model of decency, secrecy, and long-suffering.
(d) The model of ancient Mexican goddesses.

8. In Paz's estimation, woman is a living representation of which of the following?
(a) The strangeness of the world.
(b) Man's incomplete nature.
(c) Life.
(d) Life overpowered by death.

9. Why are a woman's instincts those of a species rather than her own?
(a) Her individual instincts are obliterated because of her proximity to the Divine.
(b) She is the incarnation of the life force, which itself is impersonal.
(c) As an inferior person, she does not have individual instincts.
(d) She must have instincts of the species in order to perpetuate the race.

10. To which of the following does Paz reduce the Mexican character? (Chapter Four, page 73).
(a) The Mexican only lives when he faces death.
(b) The Mexican does not dare or want to be himself.
(c) The Mexican is stronger when he is alone.
(d) The Mexican is himself only in the crowd of a fiesta or ceremony.

11. Above all other definitions, who is the Chingada?
(a) A mythical mother.
(b) A living mother.
(c) The representation of virginity.
(d) The representation of violated womanhood.

12. How does the philosophy of progress treat death?
(a) It disregards death entirely.
(b) It treats death as one more step in life.
(c) It minimizes death.
(d) It pretends to make death disappear.

13. What familial relationship does Paz equate with solitude?
(a) Having no male relatives.
(b) Being an orphan.
(c) Having no siblings.
(d) Being childless.

14. What is Paz's opinion about Western respect for life?
(a) It illustrates man's limitations.
(b) It is truthful and realistic.
(c) It is either hypocritical or incomplete.
(d) It is not convincing.

15. What duality does the pachuco represent?
(a) A fiend whose trademark is hearty laughter.
(b) A clown whose purpose is terror.
(c) A victim obsessed with revenge.
(d) A saint deeply involved in scandal.

Short Answer Questions

1. When does intimacy sprout among Mexicans?

2. In contrast to the North American, what is one of the most noticeable traits about the Mexican character?

3. In Paz's example of the village near Mitla, how is their yearly income spent?

4. Why are woman considered inferior people?

5. What did Paz find in the actions and faces of North Americans?

(see the answer keys)

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