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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. How many people die in the first nine days after Texarkana is bombed?

2. Whose skull does Zerchi see as he lays dying?

3. Who is Mrs. Grales?

4. Who steals one of the officers' drawings?

5. What does Benjamin say the sign outside his tent means?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is eligible for euthanasia?

2. What story does Zerchi tell the dying woman, to convince her not to kill herself and her child?

3. Why do the Poet's jokes cause so much upset at the dinner?

4. Why have nuclear weapons been banned?

5. Why does Paulo feel like a shoemaker in a village of shoemakers?

6. What is the literary style of the story of the Flame Deluge read to Taddeo at the beginning of Chapter 18?

7. What angers Paulo about the news of the governments' reactions to the nuclear incident?

8. How is Zerchi required to practice what he preaches about suffering and euthanasia?

9. How does Mad Bear view Taddeo's party?

10. What is the implication of Rachel refusing baptism?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss hubris in the novel.

Part 1) In what ways is the Flame Deluge like the fall of the Tower of Babel?

Part 2) Discuss hubris in the characters throughout the novel, including Francis, Taddeo, and Hannegan. What are the results of hubris?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss faith versus science in the context of the novel. Which characters value faith, and which characters value science? Include Francis, Leibowitz, Taddeo, Dr. Cors, and Zerchi in your discussion, as well as any other characters you feel are significant to the idea of faith versus science. Are the two always incompatible? How do the fates of the characters and of the society relate to faith and to science?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the mutations in the novel.

Part 1) How do the mutated humans in the novel stretch the definition of what it means to be human? How do they create quandaries for the Church, in defining humanity?

Part 2) How do the normal humans in the novel treat the mutants, and what does this say about humanity?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 661 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample