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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 General think is the underlying cause of rebellion?

2. How many bars, bolts and locks does the General fasten before urinating on the portable latrine?

3. What type of contest does the General institute?

4. How does Bendicion Alvarado persuade the General to stay at her house a little longer?

5. According to Aragones, who put the General in power?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when a man's bird wins against the General's in a cockfight?

2. Why does the General stop appearing in the city alongside the group of senators?

3. How does Patricio Aragones feel toward the President?

4. Who is the only man to survive the meeting of the Federalist Generals and how does he survive?

5. How does Patricio Aragones become the General's double?

6. What happens to the Defense Minister?

7. What is the General's "first death"? Describe the circumstances and provide details.

8. How does the General prepare for the coming hurricane?

9. Describe the state of the presidential palace when the book opens.

10. How does Saturno Santos come to work for the General and why must he stop?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the role of education in the novel. Is it significant that the General, despite his absolute power, is illiterate for much of his term? Is it at all significant that the General's wife is the person who teaches him to read? Why or why not? How does literacy and education surface in other ways in the novel? What might Garcia Marquez be saying about the nature or necessity of education? Be sure to support your argument with specific evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the novel, General Saturno Santos is referred to as "the Indian." How does Garcia Marquez treat the indigenous culture and people of "the nation"? Why is Santos consistently referred to as the Indian? How does this character reflect on the indigenous people of "the nation"? Be sure to consider the colonial history of the nation and its effect on the people.

Essay Topic 3

How does Garcia Marquez handle violence in this novel? Why do so many characters meet such violent--often undeserved--ends? Think, for instance, of the two thousand children under the age of seven. Is this violence gratuitous, or does it contribute to a greater political statement? Support your answers using evidence from the novel.

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