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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does solitude assume a purifying, almost purgative, quality for the Mexican?
(a) It serves to mitigate his guilt (a Catholicism concept).
(b) It concentrates the Mexican's attention on the Divine rather than on the human.
(c) It is proof of future communion with others.
(d) It wipes away his anger toward others.

2. 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.

3. How do Mexicans perceive an opening-up of one's self?
(a) As infidelity to the human spirit.
(b) As a betrayal or weakness.
(c) As a moment of truth.
(d) As a sign of strength.

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

5. 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 Latin America, what was the importance of Jose Gorostiza's poem, Muerte sin Fin?

2. In their relation to their world, to whom does Paz compare Mexicans?

3. Why are a woman's instincts those of a species rather than her own?

4. Why did the sense of Mexicanism "float" in the air of Los Angeles?

5. According to Paz, what does it mean when a person is alone?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did the Aztecs view sin? How does that idea explain the Conquest? What enormous change did Catholicism introduce?

2. What mutual problem do both the Mexican and the North American face? What is the solution to that problem?

3. What is the greatest horror that a worker suffers? Do you think that is true?

4. What is the world of terrorism like? How is it different from the past world of conquest and war?

5. How important are fiestas in Mexican culture? What relationship exists between the fiesta and the individual?

6. What is the origin of the pachuco? How does that characterization prepare the reader for the rest of the book?

7. What is the character of the Mexican's solitude? How does it differ from the solitude of the North American?

8. Who is the Chingada? What relation does she hold to every Mexican, whether male or female?

9. Who represents the conflict that Mexicans have not been able to solve? What effect does that conflict have on their culture?

10. Why does the Mexican love Form? Other than in personal relationships, how does that idea express itself?

(see the answer keys)

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