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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 do the New Ones do when they find the dinosaur body?

2. What does Qfwfq discover when he goes to spy out the reported dinosaurs?

3. What sign does the narrator read that at first he's happy about, but later is disappointed by?

4. What does the mollusk think of the development of eyesight?

5. How does Qfwfq feel about N'ba N'ga?

Short Essay Questions

1. What second enormous hand sign does the narrator make, and why?

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

3. Describe the problems with the advice N'ba N'ga gives his family.

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

5. Why does the narrator get an enormous sign of a hand with a pointing finger?

6. What happens to the initial wealth that Qfwfq builds up?

7. What does the narrator think the first sign he sees is referring to?

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

9. How does Lll react when she first meets N'ba N'ga?

10. How does Zahn first react to Qfwfq?

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 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 3

Because the stories in COSMICOMICS discuss the natural world examined by science, they address mankind's relationship to the natural world. Discuss the relationship between man and the natural world in COSMICOMICS.

1) What is the relationship between the world of mankind and the natural world of the mollusk in "The Spiral"?

2) How is mankind related to the evolution of the universe? How does life on Earth contrast with the natural world before life developed?

3) How do natural forces like evolution and changes in the universe affect characters in the stories?

(see the answer keys)

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