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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

7. Through dissimulation, what does a Mexican attempt to do?
(a) Withdraw from society to save his individuality.
(b) Become invisible and save his individuality.
(c) Share his individuality with others to make it real.
(d) Become himself in contradistinction to others.

8. From what does a fiesta free the Mexican, in Paz's understanding?
(a) The horror of human thought.
(b) The explosive desires he carries in his heart.
(c) The sense of unfulfilled desires.
(d) The drudgery of common living.

9. In Paz's thought, what does a study of the great myths reveal?
(a) Man has broken the order of the universe.
(b) Man can only be saved by something other than himself.
(c) Man will never truly be saved.
(d) Man will continually become better than he is now.

10. Which of the following powers does the saying "I am your father" hold? (Chapter Four, page 80).
(a) The subtle power of the seemingly weaker person.
(b) The power of the justified and privileged person.
(c) The power of the closed person, the aggressor.
(d) The power of the Creator.

11. In Paz's opinion, when is a person most likely to see himself as precious and unique?
(a) At the end of his life.
(b) During adolescence.
(c) When he is in love.
(d) In childhood.

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

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

14. How did Paz consider his philosophical questions?
(a) As the only means to find answers.
(b) As an excuse for not facing reality.
(c) As a waste of time.
(d) As meaningful only if they addressed the question of Mexican identity.

15. How do Mexicans avoid the dangers of romantic relationships, according to Paz?
(a) By denying the importance of the other.
(b) By not truly loving.
(c) By exaggerating their feelings.
(d) By stifling their feelings.

Short Answer Questions

1. As Paz uderstands it, what is the Mexican's relation to death?

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

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

4. When is the fiesta of Grito celebrated?

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

(see the answer keys)

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