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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. On which group of people were Paz's thoughts focused?

2. In Paz's understanding of genders, how do Mexican women become like men?

3. In Paz's estimation, woman is a living representation of which of the following?

4. In Paz's estimation, what vital word has the Mexican forgotten?

5. Why did Catholicism drastically change the Aztec view of life?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In Paz's arguments, how important is the Mexican sense of place? What affects it? What is its most important aspect? Explain the sense of place in the greater context of the Mexican mindset that Paz presents throughout the book.

Essay Topic 3

What are the varieties of chingar that the author explains? Does that help your comprehension of the word? Does it enrich your understanding of Mexican culture?

(see the answer keys)

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