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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 did the Independence movement begin in South America?
(a) With Mexican housewives gradually overturning the governing body.
(b) Under the leadership of impassioned leader, San Martin.
(c) With simultaneous victories sweeping the continent.
(d) With a small band of determined revolutionaries.

2. In Jose Gaos' thought, what unique opportunity do young people have through their education?
(a) Rebuilding their political system.
(b) Creating their own philosophy.
(c) Modifying Spanish to meet the needs of the South Americans.
(d) Moving Mexico into the world sphere.

3. What was the motto of positivism?
(a) "Love, Order, and Progress".
(b) "Thus Shall We Live".
(c) "The Spirit Shall Speak through My Race".
(d) "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity".

4. What happened to the people annexed by greater world powers?
(a) The material gains that they made balanced the loss of voice.
(b) They became more active in the world sphere.
(c) They became passive in the world sphere.
(d) They were forgotten.

5. When did the Plan of Ayala go into effect?
(a) July, 1937.
(b) November, 1911.
(c) March, 1951.
(d) January, 1909.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to the tribe of the Chamulas, what is a chulel?

2. What event precipitated Spain's complete loss of power?

3. What was sacrificed when Porfirio Diaz took power and subdued anarchy?

4. What economic goal did the Revolution have?

5. According to Trotsky, what should happen if the Revolution does not break out in advanced nations following World War II?

Short Essay Questions

1. Despite Mexico's advancements, where does she still stand on the world spectrum? How can she change her placement?

2. What role did Jose Vasconcelos play in modern education? From Paz's descriptions, what is his opinion of Vasconcelos?

3. What does Paz say about the national differences among Central and South American nations? How does that tie into their relationship with Spain?

4. What role did Catholicism play in the lives of the conquering Spaniards? Was that role contradictory?

5. What happened when Spanish America separated itself from Spain? Given what Paz has stated throughout the book about that moment in history, draw your own conclusions about why that happened.

6. Why did the new Constitution mandate that education be secular? How might that have made the Mexicans feel?

7. What is the role of the Mexican intelligentsia within society? How does it differ from the function of the intelligentsia within the United States and Europe; and which one is a better role?

8. Paz asserts that every revolution attempts to restore the order that an oppressor has twisted or disregarded altogether. How was that true in Mexico?

9. Throughout his career, what did Jorge Cuesta argue? What are the benefits and downfalls of his argument?

10. Why could Mexico not have progressed as far as she has today if she were working within capitalism?

(see the answer keys)

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