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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 failed attempt did the men make to signal for help the night after their Coyotes left?

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

3. Why does Urrea voice skepticism that Mendez truly believed the lights came from Border Patrol agents?

4. According to Urrea, what was the third major error that Mendez made?

5. Why did men start tossing away their belongings during their walk?

Short Essay Questions

1. What caused the group to break apart after they pressed on without Mendez?

2. What did Mendez do to upset Rafael Temich?

3. What geographical feature did Mendez get lost in, as if it were a maze?

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

5. What mistake did the Coyotes make when the men arrived at the big rock?

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

7. How did Maradona change the Coyotes' plans at the last minute?

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

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

10. What did the walkers discuss with their Coyotes on the morning of May 21?

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

Urrea goes into great detail about interactions between law enforcement and border crossers, describing popular perceptions of both groups and comparing them to his personal findings. Write an essay using The Devil's Highway as a basis to analyze the impact of law enforcement on the safety of border crossing. Conclude by suggesting which policies described within the book seem to have the best outcomes for human safety.

Essay Topic 3

Despite writing predominately in English, Urrea employs specific Spanish terms throughout the Devil's Highway, such as "tinaja" (7) and "polleros" (60). Choose one or more Spanish terms used within the text and analyze the effect they have in establishing the book's setting and/or themes.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 708 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample