View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. To what did Mendez allegedly attribute the strange lights at Bluebird Pass?

2. What happened to the walkers right after they ran into the desert at Bluebird Pass?

3. Which of the Coyotes was first to run out of water?

4. How did Don Moi feel to hear the travelers laughing on the bus?

5. Which mountain range did Mendez repeatedly attempt to climb, without success?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the toilets of budget border motels incapable of doing?

2. What did Mendez do to upset Rafael Temich?

3. In which direction did Mendez tend to veer while walking?

4. How does Urrea explain the low quality of budget border motels?

5. How did getting lost affect the walkers' opinion of the human smugglers?

6. What disagreement emerges between Santos and Mendez?

7. What failed attempt did the walkers make to save themselves the night after they were abandoned?

8. What disrupted the walkers' plans at Bluebird Pass?

9. What form of payment did Mendez insist on receiving?

10. Why did the Border Patrol agents fail to recognize Mendez?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Economic forces drive and support many of the events described over the course of the Devil's Highway and Urrea goes into some detail describing them. Write a paper analyzing Urrea's presentation of the significance of these forces. Use details from the text to describe the economic influences at play, interpret Urrea's analysis, and respond with your own critique or elaboration upon Urrea's thinking.

Essay Topic 2

The Devil's Highway is populated with an array of pseudonyms. Many of the people described are introduced as "John Doe" (32) and similar aliases. In some cases, aliases are all that we are ever given. Use evidence from the text, including direct statements of intent within the afterword, to interpret the significance of Urrea's decision to shroud the book's subjects in layers of anonymity and pseudonymity.

Essay Topic 3

When describing the activities of American border patrol agents, Urrea is careful to detail the numerous conflicting political demands the border agents must navigate. Choose two different criticisms of border patrol that Urrea presents within The Devil's Highway. Analyze the nature of each criticism and the demand it places on border patrol. Conclude by explaining what compromises or conflicts these competing demands might place on border patrol activities.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 630 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample