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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 is Cantu's birth name?

2. On page 145, what does Hayward tell Cantu that shakes him?

3. What does Hayward tell Cantu about his own experience in the field that makes Cantu see Hayward in a different light on page 145?

4. Who accompanies Jose's wife and children to the courtroom along with Cantu?

5. Who is Jose's private immigration attorney?

Short Essay Questions

1. What Greek story does Cantu mention and compare to some of the tragedies he sees playing out in the desert through his job?

2. What does the woman whose feet Cantu bandages tell him about himself pn page 154?

3. What are the three categories of metaphors that sociologist Jane Zavisca identified in media coverage of migrant deaths?

4. What does Hayward tell Cantu's new colleagues in Tucson, Beto and Manuel, about Cantu's skills?

5. On page 135, what does Cantu say became the hallmark of Ciudad Juarez sometime around the mid-1990s?

6. Cantu's mother was surprised when she finally met her long-estranged father. Why?

7. How does Cantu get to know Jose, and how does their friendship grow?

8. What does Cantu write that Carl Jung said the meaning of a savage animal in a dream was?

9. What does POW stand for at Border Patrol?

10. What does Cantu's supervisor Hayward at Border Patrol suggest as a change in direction for him that will still allow him to stay with the agency on page 111?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Cantu's experience with looking after his co-worker Beto's dog relate to his experiences as a Border Patrol agent? How does Cantu end up feeling when he discovers Beto's dog is responsible for nearly killing a neighbor's dog when Beto's dog accidentally gets loose? Write an essay explaining your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay discussing Cantu's reasons for finally deciding to leave his work as a Border Patrol agent. At the end of the book, how do you think Cantu ultimately feels about his years working for the Border Patrol?

Essay Topic 3

When Cantu tells his mother he has decided to become a Border Patrol officer, she is apprehensive and honest with him about her many misgivings surrounding this choice. Write an essay analyzing Cantu's mother's reasons against him joining the Border Patrol forces.

(see the answer keys)

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