View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the population of Piedmont, Arizona?

2. What does Mark Hall learn about the Wildfire lab as he's reading the last of the file?

3. What does the Department of Defense do about Stone's proposal?

4. On Jagger's film, one of the white images is in motion. What does that mean?

5. What do they see in the sky over Piedmont?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is it about the narration, the characters and the plot thus revealed that makes you want to read further?

2. Why does Stone believe the Wildfire lab has "the capability to deal with an unknown biologic agent."?

3. Already, by chapter 4, the reader can tell this is a technical narrative. How does the author handle the technology?

4. What were the two things Stone and Burton knew when they landed in Piedmont?

5. Describe the Odd Man Hypothesis. Do you think it's a good idea?

6. Write a description of Piedmont from Lieutenant Shawn's perspective looking from above.

7. Describe Major Arthur Manchek.

8. Write about the narrator. What is his purpose? How is his purpose carried out?

9. Write about the first pages of the book and what the author does to grab the reader's attention.

10. In Chapter 3, the narrator discusses the nature of crisis from a historical perspective. What does he have to say about the nature of crisis?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the atmosphere inside the Wildfire lab. Did the men like each other? With the work they are doing does it matter if they like each other? How did they treat the staff? How did they feel about Wildfire?

Essay Topic 2

One theme explored in this book relates to the rising fear in the mid-twentieth century that mankind would become slaves to technology. Do you think this is possible? Why? Give examples of what you believe illustrates this fear. Do you believe you've become a slave to technology in your own life? How? Why?

Essay Topic 3

Did this book hold your interest throughout? How? Why? If not, why? Describe what parts interested you the most and any parts you thought were boring. Did you foresee the end long before it came? How?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,362 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample