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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 the author compare the shape of Argentina to in Chapter 18?

2. After spending the night in the rain in a field offered by a Peruvian woman, who rescued the author and Weston by driving them to the next town in Chapter 15?

3. Who was the king of Machu Picchu when it was infiltrated by Pizarro?

4. What kind of trees line the streets of Chacras de Coria?

5. Where is Parker from?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Weston say he regretted doing the cocaine in Chapter 12?

2. What happened when the indigenous woman showed Weston and the author a remote camping spot in Chapter 15?

3. Who was Atahualpa and what happened to him?

4. What deaths did the author learn about in Chapter 18?

5. Who is Kelley and what were the author's feelings about her when she visited?

6. What did the author learn about the buildings in Panama City in Chapter 11?

7. Why did tensions begin mounting between the author and Weston in Chapter 15?

8. Why did the author's friends join him in Chapter 16? Where did they meet up?

9. How is the Darien Gap described?

10. How is the setting of Salento described?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the themes of white privilege and identity in To Shake the Sleeping Self. How are these themes manifested through action? How are they developed through setting? How are these themes seen symbolically in the narrative?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the setting where the author began his journey. Why did he choose this setting? How is the setting described? What were his perceptions of this setting as the journey began?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the history of the Aztec Empire. When were the Aztecs conquered? By whom? What remains of the Aztecs today?

(see the answer keys)

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