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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. To follow Paz's previous argument, what is the result when one Mexican confides in another?

2. How do Mexicans avoid the dangers of romantic relationships, according to Paz?

3. In the book's argument, what happens when a Mexican woman is passive?

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

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

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

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

4. According to Alarcon, why does the liar lie to himself? Given what you know of the Mexican mindset, does that make sense?

5. How is the modern murderer different from a murderer of the past? How has modernity contributed to that difference?

6. What group of people did the author have in mind as he wrote the book? How and why did those people become important to him?

7. What is the Mexican view of death? When does death become saddest?

8. When does Paz say that a nation questions itself? Is it necessary?

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

10. What is dissimulation? How does it compare to lying? How does it affect the Mexican's idea of himself?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What inspired the author to write this book? What questions did he hope to answer, and did he answer them satisfactorily?

Essay Topic 2

What personal experiences did Paz pull from to write the book? How did he incorporate them into the broader scope of Mexican history? How did that affect the tone?

Essay Topic 3

In modern Mexico, what are the contrasting ways of thinking (pg 119-20)? In that context, is Spanish heritage good? How do those two mindsets continue to influence current politics and thought?

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