Q 01/05

Which 1960 Mexican film set on the Day of the Dead was Oscar-nominated?

A) Macario

B) Los Olvidados

C) Nazarín

D) El Ángel Exterminador

Answer · why

A) Macario

Macario follows a starving woodcutter who shares his turkey with Death on the eve of the Day of the Dead and is repaid with healing water; it was the ...

Q 02/05

What is the main purpose of a Day of the Dead ofrenda?

A) To ward off evil spirits

B) To pray for a good harvest

C) To welcome the souls of the departed

D) To mark a year of mourning

Answer · why

C) To welcome the souls of the departed

To welcome the souls of the departed, families build the ofrenda at home or beside the grave; it is an invitation to a brief reunion with the living, ...

Q 03/05

Which bright orange flower decorates Day of the Dead altars, believed to guide spirits with its scent?

A) Lilies

B) Marigolds

C) Roses

D) Orchids

Answer · why

B) Marigolds

Marigolds' vivid colour and strong scent are believed to guide souls home, so families strew the petals in a path leading from the grave or the street...

Q 04/05

Which sweet bread, topped with bone-shaped dough, is eaten for Day of the Dead?

A) Conchas

B) Rosca de reyes

C) Churros

D) Pan de muerto

Answer · why

D) Pan de muerto

Pan de muerto, 'bread of the dead', is not only left for the departed: families and friends share it themselves, at the graveside or around the home a...

Q 05/05

What is the elegantly dressed female skeleton, from a 1910s satirical broadside, that became a symbol of the Day of the Dead?

A) La Llorona

B) La Malinche

C) La Catrina

D) Xochiquetzal

Answer · why

C) La Catrina

La Catrina began as a jab at Mexicans who aped European fashion: a grinning skull in a plumed hat, printed on a 1913 broadside whose verses warned tha...