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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. When Aztec victims were sacrificed, why did their deaths lack personal meaning?

2. Where does Paz state that the Mexican's indifference hides his life force?

3. How does solitude assume a purifying, almost purgative, quality for the Mexican?

4. What does the Mexican value in art, religion, and politics?

5. How is the myth of the "long-suffering Mexican woman" created?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens during the fiesta? What is the emotional result?

2. What is the modern view of death? How is it dramatically different from the Aztec view?

3. What is the Mexican's ideal of manliness? How does it affect his interactions with other people?

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

5. How does North American culture view the pachuco? Does the pachuco accept or reject that culture's perception of him?

6. What were Paz's impressions of the United States? How does that contrast with the literature being written? In your mind, what accounts for the discrepancy?

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

8. How do Mexicans view their bodies? How does their view contribute to their wish for privacy?

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

10. Who is the Virgin of Guadalupe? How is she an important part of Mexican identity?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

What is the Mexican view of privacy? Why does Paz defend it at such cost? What part does lying play in his defense? Is that accepted?

Essay Topic 3

Spain accepted all forms of the Renaissance and then closed itself off to further influence. How did that affect the Conquest? How does that continue to affect Mexico's philosophical and religious development?

(see the answer keys)

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