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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. Who pick's up the spade from the soldiers?

2. What has run out by the end of the chapter?

3. How do the inmates find their way back to the dormitory after picking up the food?

4. How many inmates from each ward collect the food at mealtime?

5. Which of the following characters are not in the Doctor's waiting room?

Short Essay Questions

1. What news does the Minister of Health have for the Doctor when he calls back?

2. Describe the asylum dormitory.

3. What is the Thief's reaction to the suggestion that the Doctor be leader of the quarantined inmates?

4. Describe the First Man's Wife's reaction to her husband when she comes home.

5. Describe the final moments of the Thief's life.

6. Does the First Man trust the man who comes to his aid after he goes blind?

7. What is the Doctor's conclusion about the origin of his blindness?

8. Does the Doctor have an explanation for the First Man's sudden blindness?

9. By this point, is the dispersal of food effectively organized by Chapter 7?

10. What is the government's plan for dealing with the outbreak at the end of Chapter 3?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

After the central characters leave quarantine, they discover a city where absence of sight has rendered private property nonexistent:

Part 1) Examine the overview of the situation as related by the anonymous man that the Doctor's Wife speaks to as she is walking to the city? What function do residences and stores serve in this new society?

Part 2) Which characters within the group cling to the hope that they will find their old home, and which give up this hope? Prior to regaining their sight, do they find a home?

Part 3) Examine the First Man's arrangement with the Writer living in his house. How has the First Man's attitude toward private property changed since the beginning of the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Within the quarantine, the dueling forces of authoritarian power and chaos are juxtaposed. The central narrative is the conflict of these opposing forces:

Part 1) Compare and contrast the government's plan for controlling the epidemic through quarantine with its plan for maintaining order within the quarantine.

Part 2) Discuss the results of the rules set down by the government to maintain order in quarantine with their results. Which rules are effective and which are discarded immediately?

Part 3) Compare the authoritarian rule of the government over the blind internees with the authoritarian rule of the Thugs over the other wards.

Essay Topic 3

The beginning of the novel is marked by a sense of helplessness and shame associated with the inability to see. Explore the unifying embarrassment characters feel in these chapters through the following:

Part 1) How would you describe the character of the First Man? Though we do not know anything of him prior to going blind, does he seem like a man used to asking for help? How does he respond to being helped home by the Thief and stumbling around his apartment?

Part 2) In what state are both the Thief and the Girl with Dark Glasses when they go blind? What - in both of their lives - are they hiding from most of the world which is impossible to hide when they are in this helpless state?

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