OMG not another multiple choice exam

Cassie Fisher

Living in a world of formalities and mundane homework assignments, I was shocked to not see page after page of black and white words, smooshed onto the paper when I first opened Multiple Choice. The little piece of me that loves change urged the rest of me to drive right in, reading through the story ecstatically, in spite of my hatred towards multiple choice exams. As I read, I took into consideration the ways in which my personal life and cultural experiences influenced my read. The following danced around in my head as I flipped page after page of this unique book by Alejandro Zambra: My educational experience, personal upbringing, and overall view of the world.

First and foremost, I know we all, having made it to at least the first year of college, have some experience with multiple choice exams. Speaking for the rest of my classmates, they suck they are not the best things in the world. Multiple choice questions are limiting and almost tyrannical in that the student is forced to pick from a short list of predetermined options that almost never capture the student’s full thoughts on the subject.

I can remember sitting down for the SAT in a cold, poorly lit classroom, too early in the morning, dreading my entire life. Once I finally finished, I went home, went straight into my bedroom, and did this. I think we can all relate. Perhaps the pressure put on students for pre-college testing in American culture is what contributed to my hatred of multiple choice exams. I could only think of these intense testing environments when I initially picked up Multiple Choice.

Most students would rather take a multiple choice exam rather than an essay or fill-in-the-blank test purely because of the ease of the questions. This book, however, captured the downfalls of multiple choices perfectly. From the lack of options to the options that were way too similar to each other, multiple choice is hardly a good choice at all. That being said, my experience with the form of this book gave me a negative feeling before even reading the words on the pages. As I continued to read, however, I realized that the form was so well executed that it overcame my previous doubts and added a thought-provoking level that I did not expect initially.

Furthermore, my personal upbringing influenced my read in that the subject matter often clashed with my viewpoints and aligned with things I have experienced hands-on. For example, text number one starting on page sixty five centered around cheating, which is something that I know is wrong and refrain from on a daily basis. Additionally, his statements in the text about issues in the education system hit home. That is, I have flown through high school and part of college now seeing people with outstanding grades who should be extremely smart, but are just really good at answering questions on exams (Learn a little about Book Smarts vs. Street Smarts HERE). This experience affected the way I read text 1 because I could relate to all he was talking about. On the other hand, text 2 was a little bit more difficult for me to internalize because of the fact that I have never been married and probably will not be for a while. Also, I had no idea that divorce was not legal in Chili until after 2004; I was shocked to find out.

Also, my overall outlook on life impacted my reading and interfered with the tone of the book. For example, question number 41 on page 28 is pessimistic and very real; each option when put in the sentences impacts the meaning and makes you think long and hard. The one that made me the most introspective was:

“and if they have any hope left, that’s what reality is for.”

Because I usually try to go through life only thinking of things above and keeping my attitude super positive, it is very interesting to read a book like this one that makes you think like a realist.

Basically, Multiple Choice is a book that makes you think about your own life because of the many options in the reading. While I put myself in the scenarios, I thought about my experiences, my viewpoints, and I also got over my hatred of multiple choice exams! (Perhaps I just dislike the “exam” part of that phrase.) Either way, I enjoyed the book because of the room for interpretation and personalization, and I even got a tiny peek into some Chilean struggles. From the form to the content, Multiple Choice was a thought-provoking read that tied to my own life in some interesting ways.