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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When Aztec victims were sacrificed, why did their deaths lack personal meaning?
(a) Any sacrifice to the gods was seen impersonally.
(b) No one was left to mourn for them.
(c) Their lives did not belong to them.
(d) They were at the bottom of the social scale.

2. Other than solitude, what does the Mexican often feel in relation to other peoples?
(a) Intellectualism.
(b) Inferiority.
(c) Weakness.
(d) Complete isolation.

3. In Paz's example of the village near Mitla, how is their yearly income spent?
(a) On weddings and christenings.
(b) On fiestas.
(c) On education.
(d) On funerals.

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

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

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

7. In Paz's understanding of genders, how do Mexican women become like men?
(a) Through suffering.
(b) Through self-denial.
(c) Through sacrifice.
(d) In love.

8. Why does the modern novelist rarely choose the worker as his protagonist?
(a) The worker is not modern enough.
(b) The worker is not a universal figure.
(c) The worker cannot adequately capture what the novelist wants to convey.
(d) The worker is too recent and similar to his boss.

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

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

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

12. What analogy does Paz use to explain Mexico's history?
(a) A man searching for his parents.
(b) A man searching for his wife.
(c) A child without a future.
(d) A child without a family.

13. According to Paz, what is death in modern thought?
(a) The end of all unworthy men.
(b) The avoidable end to a wasted life.
(c) The predictable end to a natural progression.
(d) The putting to rest of all sorrow.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. In his obsession with hygiene, work, and health, what does the North American miss?

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

3. What is the French sociologists' interpretation of the fiesta?

4. What does Paz deem to be the first and most serious change that a man endures when he becomes a worker?

5. What is the advantage of the North American view of women in relation to the Spanish view?

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