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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 Diablero mean, as Matus defines it in the course of the story?

2. What happens to the answer in #45 as it drinks?

3. What does Matus tell Castaneda to rinse with, but not to swallow?

4. How many mescalitos must Castaneda receive from someone else other than Matus?

5. Castaneda plays and ________ with this image from #45.

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Castaneda begin to experience by the sixth cycle of taking dry buttons?

2. What area does Castaneda mark with his jacket?

3. Two years after accepting an apprentice, what does Matus prepare to do with Castaneda?

4. What happens when Castaneda's guide and helper arranges a meeting between Castaneda and Matus?

5. What is the advice Matus gives to Castaneda as he is being tested to see if he is worthy of Mescalito?

6. What will happen if Castaneda does not receive his first 7 mescalitos from someone other than Matus?

7. What will a person gain if they take Datura's second portion at least twenty times?

8. Why do people keep Mescalito in a bag fastened around their arm or neck?

9. What are the differences between the male and the female Jimson Weed plants?

10. Though Castaneda and Matus are not able to work together all the time, what does this provide to Castaneda?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

To some, the actions in this story might seem to be based on superstition instead of on actual fact and truth.

Part 1: List at least three actions taken in this story that seem to be based on superstition.

Part 2: Do you think the warnings that go along with these actions are based on truth? Would something bad happen if the warnings were not heeded? Why or why not?

Part 3: Explain the reasons for using such warnings with a student in this plant medicine.

Essay Topic 2

When Castaneda has to fight other spirits which mean him harm, we can see just how engaged he must be in his work.

Part 1: Why does Castaneda recognize the spirits he fights to be out to harm him?

Part 2: What might have happened if Castaneda did not try to fight back?

Part 3: What was the purpose of the fighting with those imitators? What does this teach Castaneda?

Essay Topic 3

There is a lot of ritual and ceremony in this book, often to encourage the spirits of the plants to work with Castaneda or with Matus.

Part 1: Define the idea of ritual and of ceremony as it is seen in this book.

Part 2: Why is it important that the men attach a ritual or a ceremony to the work they do?

Part 3: What might happen without the addition of ritual or of ceremony? Does it not matter if these aspects are included or not?

(see the answer keys)

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