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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "The Aleph," what is the Aleph?
(a) A mystical portal to visions of the past and present.
(b) A strange bird.
(c) A sword said to have belonged to Saladin.
(d) The key to translating an unknown language.

2. In "The Two Kings and the Two Labyrinths," whom does the King of Babylon imprison in a labyrinth?
(a) His manservant.
(b) The King of England.
(c) The King of Arabia.
(d) A notorious murderer.

3. In "The Zahir," where is the sister of the woman he loves?
(a) A convent.
(b) Prison.
(c) Travelling in Argentina.
(d) A mental hospital.

4. In "The Man on the Threshold," what is suspected of all the people who are celebrating?
(a) They all want to kill the narrator.
(b) They are Socialists.
(c) They are worshipping the god Apollo.
(d) They all know what happened to Judge Glencairn.

5. In "Averroes' Search," what happens to Averroes at the end?
(a) He looks into a mirror and disappears.
(b) He drowns.
(c) He condemns Aristotle as a "savage."
(d) He converts to Judaism.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "The Secret Miracle," how is Hladik eventually killed?

2. In "The Aleph," where is the Aleph located?

3. In "The Mirror of Ink," what happens to the ruler from prying too deeply into a vision?

4. In "The Shape of the Sword," John Vincent Moon is a traitor to what ideology?

5. In "The Theme of the Traitor and the Hero," Kilpatrick participates in his own assassination for which of the following reasons?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "The Circular Ruins," a man creates another man in a dream and ultimately discovers that he is a dream himself. Is Borges making a possible connection to the artistic process?

2. In "Three Versions of Judas," what are the three ways Runeberg portrays Judas?

3. In "Death and the Compass," how does Scharlach defeat Lonnrot?

4. In "Funes, His Memory," is Funes's prodigious memory a good thing or a bad thing?

5. In "The Lottery in Babylon," what could the lottery symbolize?

6. In "The Wait," what does Villari do when his assassins actually show up? Why does he do this?

7. In "The Immortal," what is the result of immortality?

8. In "The Garden of Forking Paths," why does Dr. Yu work for the Germans?

9. How does Borges portray theological disputes in "The Theologians"?

10. In "A Theologian in Death," what is Melancthon's doctrine and what are the implications of this doctrine?

(see the answer keys)

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