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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. When does intimacy sprout among Mexicans?
(a) When the nation is least involved in world affairs.
(b) When incited by violence, alcohol, or a fiesta.
(c) When they are most alone.
(d) When they are in love.

3. 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 is stronger when he is alone.
(c) The Mexican does not dare or want to be himself.
(d) The Mexican is himself only in the crowd of a fiesta or ceremony.

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

5. What contributes to the power of the word, chingar, and all of its derivations?
(a) The fact that its derivations are many and complicated.
(b) The fact that it is prohibited in public places.
(c) The fact that people use the word in religious ceremonies.
(d) The fact that the word is related to words related to death.

6. What type of book did Xavier Villaurrutia write?
(a) A scientific explanation of death.
(b) Religious exhortations about life.
(c) Life-related poetry.
(d) Death-related poetry.

7. When is the fiesta of Grito celebrated?
(a) August 3 at 9:00 AM.
(b) April 16 at 11:00 AM.
(c) September 15 at 11:00 PM.
(d) October 31 at 3:00 PM.

8. In the book's argument, what happens when a Mexican woman is passive?
(a) She functions as a channel of the ancient elements: Earth, motherhood, and virginity.
(b) She can no longer relate to the man.
(c) She comes to believe in the societal values given her.
(d) She embodies the ancient elements of earth, motherhood, and virginity.

9. Paz states that a Mexican utters the words that are considered most evil when which of the following occurs?
(a) When he wants to invoke the evil contained in the words.
(b) When he wants to get his point across.
(c) When he is not in control of himself.
(d) When he is extremely angry.

10. Why did Catholicism drastically change the Aztec view of life?
(a) It saw life linearly rather than cyclically.
(b) It placed a merciful God in charge.
(c) It placed man's salvation outside himself.
(d) It emphasized man's humanity and personhood.

11. What masculine trait enters into the idea of feminine modesty?
(a) Protection.
(b) Strength.
(c) Love.
(d) Vanity.

12. What is the most valued trait in both the military and political realms?
(a) Kindness.
(b) Valor.
(c) Courage.
(d) Stoicism.

13. As the closure to Chapter Two, the reader sees what shadow spreading out over Mexico?
(a) The shadow of dissimulation.
(b) The shadow of truth.
(c) The shadow of Nobody.
(d) The shadow of Catholicism.

14. In Paz's view, why does the Spaniard still use and enjoy blasphemy?
(a) Because he cannot curse creatively.
(b) Because he still believes in God.
(c) Because he curses for dramatic effect.
(d) Because he no longer believes in God.

15. 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.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does the pachuco present himself to the people around him?

2. How does solitude assume a purifying, almost purgative, quality for the Mexican?

3. When Paz first arrived in the United States, what surprised him most about the people?

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

5. According to Paz, what is the Mexican's relationship with his fellow man?

(see the answer keys)

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