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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. What mixes with the blood after several inmates are shot by the soldiers?

2. How does the Thief die?

3. Who is forced to assist in the goading forward of new internees?

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

5. Which of the following is not a location considered by the government for the quarantine location

Short Essay Questions

1. What bit of knowledge does the Thief reveal to the Doctor's Wife on the night of his death? What will he do with this knowledge?

2. Describe the humiliation that occurs when the Doctor tries to use the toilet in Chapter 6.

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

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

5. How does the First Man compose himself in the Doctor's office?

6. What appears to be the pattern for the spread of blindness in the novel?

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

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

9. What does the Doctor do when his Wife tells him that a Man with an Eye-Patch has arrived in the ward?

10. Describe the state of the dormitory at the end of Chapter 6.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Jose Saramago writes his parable without any proper names. How does affect he telling of the story and the readers attitude toward the characters. Cite three characters and describe an initial impression of the person based solely on his/her "name." Go on to describe the journey of that character through the story and how he/she does or does not confound expectations.

Essay Topic 2

Saramago makes several references to the old cliche: "in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." In the central section of the novel, he pits two characters with sensory advantages against each other: the Doctor's Wife, who can see, and the Chronicler, who was born blind and can read and type braille. Compare and contrast these two "one-eyed men" and how they use or do not use their advantages. Is either truly a leader or "king" in the quarantine? What does each hope to achieve for their constituency?

Essay Topic 3

Food - and the search for it - becomes a destructive force in the land of the blind, leading to distrust, dehumanization, and sometimes death:

Part 1) Discuss the distribution of food in the first days of quarantine? Before the Thugs arrive, is the process of food distribution fair and straight forward? In what ways are the baser qualities of humankind on display even in these passages?

Part 2) As the Thugs arrive at quarantine, how does the balance of power shift regarding food? Discuss the quarantine is transformed into a Hobbesian nightmare with food as the sole objective?

Part 3) After quarantine, what instances of death occur as a result of the search for food in the city? In the era of white sickness, can humanity be safe as it seeks to subsist.

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