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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 Teotihuacan mean?

2. What happens to Mixtli's vision after his naming ceremony?

3. Who is Pactli?

4. Why does Mixtli enjoy feeling an earthquake for the first time?

5. Who is thought to be behind Gie Bele's death?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why doesn't Mixtli have sex with the female slave that all of the young men from his hometown hire?

2. What does Blood Glutton encourage the young Mixtli to do?

3. Why do the Maya purposefully deform their faces?

4. Who is the cacao-colored man who often wanders the streets?

5. Why does Mixtli plot to get Tlatli and Chimáli into trouble?

6. After the Bishop writes down Mixtli's tale of going to the court of Texcoco, what commentary does he add?

7. What prediction does a stranger, who is sitting on a bench, make about Mixtli's future shortly after his renaming ceremony?

8. What particular product, used by a doctor to try to save Slave Ten's life, does Mixtli find so interesting?

9. What happens to Cozcatl when Mixtli is at the human zoo?

10. How does Mixtli react when he sees the "tapir woman" in the ruler's human zoo?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Several characters in the story are married -- often more than once -- throughout the novel. Discuss the function of marriage within Aztec and what message, if any, Jennings is trying to convey about marriage itself through his characters.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss how an act or element of nature that is used in the novel to aid in either plot OR character development. Make sure to address at least 3 literary devices that Jennings uses as well as direct quotations from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Determine what you think is the most prominent motif OR theme, and explain why, supporting your choice with ample evidence form the text.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 576 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample