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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. How does Dean (k)yK try to back out of the bet that there will be atoms?

2. In the world millions of years later, where does the narrator see the image of the first female mollusk he interacts with?

3. During what period did the dinosaurs die out?

4. When Ursula H'x begins swaying during her fall, what does Lieutenant Fenimore do?

5. How much does the narrator plan the details of his shell's appearance?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the narrator describe being with Ursula H'x when their routes intersect?

2. How does Zahn first react to Qfwfq?

3. What does Qfwfq do with the body of the dinosaur the New Ones find?

4. What causes the narrator's suspicions about the female he encounters?

5. How does Qfwfq describe Dean (k)yK, on a typical day in the present?

6. What explanation does the narrator give for caring about the opinion of whoever wrote the sign he first sees?

7. What does N'ba N'ga like about the water where he lives?

8. In the end of the mollusk's story, in what way does he encounter the female mollusk?

9. How do the New Ones' perception of dinosaurs change over the time Qfwfq is with them?

10. How does the narrator see evolution as confining?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Calvino's stories deal with communication between an individual and the world around him. Discuss communication in Calvino's stories.

1) In "The Light Years," how does the narrator communicate with others? What problems are there in communication?

2) In "The Form of Space," how does the narrator communicate with the other characters? What role does communication play in the story?

3) How well do the characters in COSMICOMICS communicate with the ones they love? How well, and in what way, do the characters communicate with their rivals?

4) In "A Sign in Space," how does Qfwfq communicate through his sign? What meaning and communication does Qfwfq receive from other signs? What is the role of communication in the story?

Essay Topic 2

In COSMICOMICS, objects and things outside the self often reflect the self to the outside world. Discuss the role of objects and belongings in COSMICOMICS, and their relationship to identity and self.

1) What is the role of the characters' outer appearance in reflecting their inner selves? How do Ursula H'x and Lieutenant Fenimore's appearances reflect their personalities? How does the mollusk's shell become an embodiment of the mollusk's self?

2) How do objects the characters create and acquire reflect themselves? How does the sign in space become a representation of Qfwfq? How do the hydrogen atoms and the galaxies the boys form in "Games Without End" become representations of the boys, and part of their comparisons with each other?

Essay Topic 3

Throughout COSMICOMICS, Qfwfq feels judged by others, and characters enter into petty squabbles with each other. Discuss judgment throughout COSMICOMICS.

1) In "A Sign in Space," why does Qfwfq feel judged? What reasons does he have to feel that others are judging him? How does he judge himself?

2) In "All at One Point," how do the characters judge and criticize each other? Why is Mrs. Ph(i)NK_0 immune to this judgmental behavior?

3) How do Qfwfq and his uncle judge each other in "The Aquatic Uncle"? Where do their opinions of each other stem from?

4) In "The Light-Years," why does the narrator feel judged? How does he judge himself? How does his perception of being judged affect his actions and his relationship with others?

(see the answer keys)

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