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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Dr. Breed say that "pure research men" work on in Chapter 21?
(a) "What they are paid to research."
(b) "Facts that will help humanity."
(c) "What they are told to research."
(d) "What fascinates them."

2. What is Chapter 12's title?
(a) "A Tentative Tangling of Tendrils."
(b) "End of the World Delight."
(c) "Secret Agent X-9."
(d) "Vice-president in Charge of Volcanoes."

3. Whom is John sent to write an article about in San Lorenzo in Chapter 40?
(a) Julian Castle.
(b) Sherman Krebbs.
(c) George Minor Moakely.
(d) Marvin Sharpe Holderness.

4. To whom is the poem attributed on the tombstone that says, "Mother, Mother, how I pray / For you to guard us every day"?
(a) Newt Hoenikker.
(b) Felix Hoenikker.
(c) Frank Hoenikker.
(d) Angela Hoenikker.

5. Where was Bokonon born?
(a) Jamaica.
(b) Haiti.
(c) Tobago.
(d) Mexico.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the first sentence in The Books of Bokonon?

2. How does John describe the aesthetic of Ilium, New York, in Chapter 13?

3. How old was Newt Hoenikker when his father died?

4. How old was Angela Hoenikker when her mother died?

5. Who is the "mail-order muscle-builder" who "vulgarized" the term "Dynamic Tension," according to John in Chapter 47?

Short Essay Questions

1. What irony is revealed in Dr. Breed's assessments of Ilium's history in Chapter 13?

2. What statement do you think that Vonnegut is making in regards to politics and science in Cat's Cradle?

3. What aspects of Dr. Hoenikker's character are revealed through Dr. Breed's stories of him in Chapter 14?

4. What is surprising to John when he encounters the Hoenikker burial plot in Chapters 29 and 30?

5. How is Dr. Felix Hoenikker's personality described in Cat's Cradle?

6. How does the narrator describe San Lorenzo's attempt at communism in the narrative?

7. What irony can be found in Dr. Breed's discussions of superstition in Chapters 16-18?

8. How does Bokononism influence the language style of the novel?

9. How is Bokonon's history and arrival at San Lorenzo described in Chapter 48?

10. What is significant about the stone angel monument at the sales room in Ilium?

(see the answer keys)

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