View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Jose's court-appointed attorney say about Cantu's former colleague Morales on page 187?

2. On page 141, what does Cantu tell Beto he is thinking of doing after leaving Border Patrol?

3. On page 111, what kind of bird does Cantu see on one of his monitor cameras?

4. What kind of job does Cantu work in on page 167?

5. On page 106, what does researcher Molly Molloy believe about the reporting on the statistics of homicides in Mexico since 2007?

Short Essay Questions

1. What Greek story does Cantu mention and compare to some of the tragedies he sees playing out in the desert through his job?

2. Why does Cantu tell Hayward he will likely stop working for Border Patrol on page 157?

3. What does the sicario tell the interviewers started to happen in his personal life after years of working for the cartel?

4. What does POW stand for at Border Patrol?

5. What does Cantu write that Carl Jung said the meaning of a savage animal in a dream was?

6. What does the U.S. Marshal from the courtroom give to one of Jose's sons that surprises Jose's defense attorney?

7. How does Jose and his family come to be connected with his private defense attorney, Elizabeth Green?

8. How does Cantu's uncle in Santa Fe feel about the work he has done his whole life?

9. How does Cantu get to know Jose, and how does their friendship grow?

10. On page 135, what does Cantu say became the hallmark of Ciudad Juarez sometime around the mid-1990s?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does Cantu learn from some of the people he interviews that live in border towns on the U.S. side of the border about how the U.S.'s immigration crackdowns have affected their daily lives? Write an essay explaining your answer, citing specific references to the text.

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 Morales and Cantu arrest two men from Oaxaca for crossing the border illegally, the migrants share their homemade delicacies brought across the border, including grasshoppers, jerky, and mezcal with Morales and Cantu. Write an essay analyzing the tensions and contradictions Cantu feels towards the work he is compelled to perform as a Border Patrol officer and his feelings of sympathy towards some of the people he meets crossing the border.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 860 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample