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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. How does Bobby pay the Mexican traffickers?

2. What does Rafaela do with the box she takes from Gabriel's in Chapter 24?

3. Why does Gabriel send faxes to the paper in Chapter 43?

4. Why does Buzzworm end up throwing the cooler?

5. In Chapter 25, why doesn't Gabriel go to Mexico when Rafaela calls him?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do Buzzworm and Emi do before Emi dies?

2. What happens when Gabriel faxes Bobby the wrestler poster in Chapter 40?

3. What does Emi confess to Buzzworm when she is on top of the news van?

4. What happens when Gabriel calls Emi in Chapter 29?

5. What prediction does Manzanar make in Chapter 35 about the Los Angeles sporting events?

6. What happens when Arcangel tries to cross the United States border in Chapter 33?

7. Why is Rafaela nervous during her bus ride with Sol and Arcangel?

8. How does Rafaela protect herself from the man in the black Jaguar?

9. How do Gabriel and Emi's attitudes toward the news differ in Chapters 26 and 27?

10. In Chapter 45, what happens when Bobby and Rafaela reunite?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast Buzzworm to official social workers or hired news crews. How does each group feel about their jobs/roles? How do they fulfill roles? What does having Buzzworm fill this position reveal about the official workers?

Essay Topic 2

Examine the theme of technology in this novel. How do the characters use technology? What is the commentary provided about technology's purpose? Its usefulness? In what ways does technology bind the characters and plot lines of this novel as a theme?

Essay Topic 3

Examine the symbolism of one of the following: the trees, the nearly invisible line, the cooler, the Hollywood sign. What does the physical item represent about the characters in this novel? What does the physical item reveal about the major themes?

(see the answer keys)

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