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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. Where did Mary meet Roy Hepburn?

2. What is the theory behind people with more of a streamlined skull?

3. Who could be seen as a virtuous knight as in days of yore in Chapter 38?

4. What food source is a cure for people with vitamin and mineral deficiencies?

5. What does Mary use to try and suffocate herself in Chapter 29?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the irony behind the marriage of Mary Kaplan and Willard Flemming in Book 2: Chapter 4?

2. Did James Wait ever reproduce? Explain.

3. Who does Kamikaze catch by the spring and is about to copulate with?

4. Why are the Kanka-bono girls laughing at the Captain in Chapter 11? Why does the Captain think they are laughing?

5. In Book 2: Chapter 12, what does the narrator suggest as a means for Mary Hepburn to keep on living with the Captain for a little while longer?

6. Is Siegfried von Kleist successful at committing suicide in Chapter 38? Explain.

7. Why does Mary Hepburn like James Wait immediately?

8. Does Leon Trout obey the Father's request for him to go into the blue tunnel? Explain.

9. Why is the Bahia considered to be a ghost ship in the opinion of humankind?

10. What does the cancellation of "the Nature Cruise of the Century" mean to everyone in the bus in front of the Hotel El Dorado?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The portrait of Charles Darwin hangs behind the bar in the Hotel El Dorado. Why do you think Charles Darwin is such an important figure to the characters in the novel? In your opinion, do you think Charles Darwin should be seen as an idol? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

The narrator, Leon Trout, states that all the sorrows of humankind are caused by "the only true villain in my story: the oversized human brain." Do you agree with his statement? Explain by using specific examples from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Make a case for or against the following statement: "Culture and society is just something that humans do because it is programmed in their brains." Use the novel for evidence to support your case.

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