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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 the woman in the "2 June 1905" dream begin teaching?

2. For people in the world described in the "20 May 1905" dream, what does each one carry?

3. What does the narrator want readers to "suppose" in the "9 June 1905" dream?

4. What is the narrator's explanation of such a short life in the "3 June 1905" dream?

5. What does the narrator want readers to imagine in the "3 June 1905" dream?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the cafe that stands on the corner of Kramgasse and Theaterplatz.

2. What options do people have when it comes to reading their Book of Life?

3. Why do sunset and sunrise babies become frightened when the light changes?

4. Why does the young man in the 17 June 1905 dream leave his lover and tell her he cannot see her again?

5. Describe what happens between the baker and the woman in the 17 June 1905 dream.

6. What is the young woman at no. 27 Viktoriastrasse doing right before she thrusts herself into the future?

7. How does the narrator describe a world without a future?

8. What has the young woman at no. 27 Viktoriastrasse missed in her life because of the sudden thrust into the future?

9. Why have some inhabitants of the 29 May 1905 world become frustrated and despondent?

10. In the second Interlude, to what does Besso compare Einstein's present health?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

On the back of the novel, James Gleick is quoted for the novel saying, "No novelist, physicist, or philosopher has offered such a wonderful vision of what time has been or might be." What implication does this set up for the understanding of Einstein himself? What problems may this quote have for the author's intent of writing the novel? Why might Gleick's statement be misunderstood as negative towards Einstein and, therefore, the author himself? Cite specific examples from the text to support your responses.

Essay Topic 2

Take into consideration the many different representations of time described in the novel. Find the most realistic representation of time, described in a dream, and build a case as to why it is the most reasonable representation of what time could be. Be sure to use textual based examples to prove why this representation could exist in reality.

Essay Topic 3

Answer the following essay question being sure to use at least two examples and fully explaining the reasoning behind your answer:

- What is your least favorite dream from "Einstein's Dreams" and why?

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