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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 Makina’s brother say when Makina asks about the land?

2. Why had this person joined the army?

3. How does Makina’s brother answer when she asks if he got hurt?

4. What does Makina say people are doing when they combine languages?

5. What does Makina’s brother say made him confident about taking this job?

Short Essay Questions

1. What kind of marriage ceremony does Makina encounter on her way to the army base?

2. Who is the man who evicts Makina from the ATM booth?

3. What were the three messages Makina’s brother sent home?

4. What is Makina’s reaction when she sees her brother?

5. What kind of omen does the light in the sky give Makina when she arrives at the address?

6. What does Makina learn about the job her brother took?

7. How does Makina’s brother explain why Mexican people stay in the U.S.?

8. Who does Makina meet at the army base before she meets her brother?

9. How does Makina free herself and the others who have been collected by the cop?

10. How does Makina find the boy from the bus?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Who is the audience for Signs Preceding the End of the World? What is the ideal reader for Signs Preceding the End of the World likely to think about the book’s main topics? How does this book try to affect the reader? What is it trying to teach him or her, or get him or her to do?

Essay Topic 2

Explore the role of the helper characters in Signs Preceding the End of the World. From Chucho to the old women and men, Makina gets assistance from a number of places. What do these supporting characters have in common? How do they compare to the characters who threaten Makina? What do those characters have in common as well?

What are the values that animate supporting characters on either side? How do these supporting characters, both benevolent and threatening, imply competing world views?

Essay Topic 3

What is the role of women in Signs Preceding the End of the World? How are women portrayed, and what kinds of roles are open to them? How would you evaluate Herrera’s depiction of women in this novel?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 938 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample