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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. On which group of people were Paz's thoughts focused?
(a) Those who are conscious of themselves as Mexicans.
(b) Those who are focused on making Mexico a part of the world.
(c) Those who are seeking a better philosophy as Mexicans.
(d) The Mexican nation as a whole.

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

3. What is the difference between the Mexican killer and the modern one?
(a) The Mexican kills as an expression of love.
(b) The Mexican obliterates an object, not a man.
(c) Only the Mexican killer expresses true hatred.
(d) The Mexican kills a man, not an object.

4. Aside from being an excess, what does the fiesta revolt against?
(a) Sadness.
(b) Life.
(c) Form.
(d) Death.

5. 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) His neighbor is a pathetic version of himself.
(b) The glance could spark rage.
(c) The glance could reveal his isolation.
(d) His neighbor reveals the disillusioned character of Mexico.

6. In Paz's estimation, what vital word has the Mexican forgotten?
(a) The word that gives him peace with all others.
(b) The word of love given to him by his mother.
(c) The word that allows him to reach out to others.
(d) The word tying him to life forces of creativity and destruction.

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

8. What do a pachuco's actions and lifestyle demonstrate?
(a) His will to remain different.
(b) His desire to return to Mexico.
(c) His anger at a culture that will not assimilate him.
(d) His dissatisfaction with North American culture.

9. Paz discusses the result of persecution on the pachuco. What is that result?
(a) It makes him distrustful.
(b) It makes him stronger.
(c) It strengthens his anger.
(d) It breaks his solitude.

10. What role does the Mexican man play in society?
(a) He protects everything entrusted to him.
(b) He seeks to expand his control in the world.
(c) He wants to raise Mexico to a place of prominence in the world.
(d) He defends everything that he has.

11. What is the French sociologists' interpretation of the fiesta?
(a) The people's misunderstanding of life increases their desire for death.
(b) The people's disregard for death increases their sense of life.
(c) The people's disregard for obligations enhances their sense of time.
(d) The people's squandering of money appeases the gods.

12. As explained in Chapter One, who are the pachucos?
(a) Old men who no longer have a connection to their native land.
(b) Old men who keep the memory of Mexico alive in their grandchildren who were born in the United States.
(c) Rebellious youths who are not assimilated into North American culture.
(d) Young men who leave Mexico for the United States hoping for a better life.

13. As Paz uderstands it, what is the Mexican's relation to death?
(a) Emotionally remote.
(b) Intimate but empty.
(c) Intimate and heartbreaking.
(d) Sacrificial.

14. According to Paz, what is the Mexican's relationship with his fellow man?
(a) He respects him only if they are the same social class.
(b) He changes him to Nobody.
(c) He ignores him.
(d) He respects him only if he is revered.

15. During the fiesta of Grito, why do the people shout for one hour, in Paz's interpretation?
(a) To express their rage.
(b) So the name of Grito cannot be heard.
(c) To express great joy.
(d) So they can be silent the rest of the year.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Paz states that a Mexican utters the words that are considered most evil when which of the following occurs?

3. How are the evil words a sign and seal?

4. What happens when the Mexican dissimulates?

5. According to Paz, what is death in modern thought?

(see the answer keys)

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