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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. What does Cantu deliberately shoot at the firing range just to see if he is capable of taking a life?

2. Why do the tribal police often decline to come to pick up abandoned vehicles when Border Patrol calls them?

3. Who is Cantu's supervisor at his new job in intelligence at the Border Patrol office in Tucson?

4. Who was Hart's roommate who dropped out of Border Patrol training?

5. Why does Cantu arrest one of the men in the car he stops on page 70?

Short Essay Questions

1. How was the modern-day boundary between the U.S. and Mexico first defined?

2. What do some of the other Border Patrol agents suggest might help combat the smell of dead bodies when going out to recover them in the desert?

3. What is one main reason why Cantu's mother does not want him to become a Border Patrol agent?

4. What do Cantu and his mother always do as a tradition on Christmas Eve together?

5. Why do Cantu and other Border Patrol agents destroy any of the belongings and provisions they find in the desert?

6. How does Cantu's own experiences in Ciudad Juarez compare to what he has heard about the city?

7. What realization did Italian priest Father Eusebio Kino have when he climbed to the top of a volcanic peak south of the international boundary line in 1706?

8. What does the dentist who works on Cantu's mouth surmise about his problem grinding his teeth?

9. How did the two young sisters who were brought in to the Border Patrol station alone react to their processing and questioning?

10. What does Cantu feel when he goes to visit Morales in the hospital following his motorcycle accident?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Cantu cites research by various linguists that has examined the dehumanizing language media professionals, politicians, and others often use to describe undocumented immigrants. Write an essay analyzing the various different manifestations of cultural bias towards undocumented immigrants as they appear through common uses of language that Cantu discusses.

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the book, Cantu has a series of dreams that feature disturbing animals and physical issues (like grinding his teeth so hard they fall out of his mouth). Write an essay analyzing what Cantu's dreams reveal about his state of mind while he is working as a Border Patrol officer.

Essay Topic 3

When Cantu tells his mother he has decided to become a Border Patrol officer, she is apprehensive and honest with him about her many misgivings surrounding this choice. Write an essay analyzing Cantu's mother's reasons against him joining the Border Patrol forces.

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