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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 does Qfwfq do while looking for his siblings, so that the others can keep track of where he is?

2. How old is Pfwfp, compared to Qfwfq?

3. How often does Qfwfq finally realize he will pass by his sign?

4. What does the cleaning woman spend all day doing?

5. Who is Qfwfq in love with?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Qfwfq fear making a third true sign?

2. Describe what Qfwfq thinks as he nears the end of the first galactic revolution and believes he's about to see his sign again.

3. What does Qfwfq try to communicate with Ayl when they first meet?

4. How is the sign like a name?

5. How does Mrs. Vhd Vhd act during her time trapped on the moon?

6. In the story, one of the characters accidentally floats up into the air. Describe how that character comes back down.

7. How is the food that the characters collect from the moon made?

8. How does the Deaf One act while the moon is further away from the Earth?

9. What does Granny think is happening when light first appears?

10. How does Qfwfq describe the new atoms that are formed?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In several of the stories, a family forms the central group of characters. Discuss the portrayal and role of family in COSMICOMICS.

1) Discuss the family in "At Daybreak." What role does each family member play in the family as a whole? How does being a family affect the characters' interactions?

2) How are the communities in "The Distance of the Moon" and "All at One Point" similar to and different from families?

3) What role does family play in "The Aquatic Uncle"? How does the familial relationship between Qfwfq and his uncle affect the story?

4) What role does family play in "The Dinosaurs"? How does Fern-flower's relationship to her brother affect the story? What is the import of Qfwfq fathering a son?

Essay Topic 2

Calvino's stories parallel each other to a greater or lesser degree. Discuss the parallels between stories in COSMICOMICS.

1) What parallels are there between "The Spiral," "The Light-Years," and "A Sign in Space"? How are these three stories' portrayals of signs and creation different and similar?

2) What parallels are there between "At Daybreak," "Without Colors," and "The Aquatic Uncle"? How are these three stories' portrayals of change and human reactions to change different and similar?

3) What parallels are there between "How Much Shall We Bet?" and "Games Without End"? How are these two stories' portrayals of rivalry different and similar?

4) What other parallels are there between the stories in COSMICOMICS? What role do parallels between the stories play in the development of Calvino's themes?

Essay Topic 3

Throughout COSMICOMICS, characters generate ideas for the first time and do or conceive of things before the things themselves, or integral parts of those things, exist. Discuss these prototypes in COSMICOMICS.

1) How does Qfwfq think about the first sign? What is the significance of the sign being the "first"? How does this prototype differ from later signs?

2) How does the society in the point in "All at One Point" function as a prototype of later societies that will exist in the expanded universe?

3) How do the characters in "How Much Shall We Bet?" create a prototype of betting? How does betting change as the universe develops?

4) Why are there so many prototypes throughout COSMICOMICS? How are they related to each other and to the themes of the story collection?

(see the answer keys)

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