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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 pressure does the narrator say he feels to act out his culture’s stories?
2. How does Ishmael get the narrator to recognize the limitation of his creation myth?
3. How does Ishmael characterize the notion that agriculture started in the Fertile Crescent?
4. What does the narrator say made the difference between men before and the men that live now?
5. In Chapter 6, Ishmael says that the narrator’s account of man’s progress stopped being applicable—how long ago?
Short Essay Questions
1. What correlation does Ishmael draw between Nazi Germany and the narrator’s culture?
2. Why is the narrator so upset to see Ishmael’s ad in the paper?
3. What does the sign that the narrator notices behind the gorilla say, and what does the narrator interpret it to mean?
4. What turning point does the narrator describe in his story of his culture’s history?
5. Describe the man who takes Ishmael from the menagerie.
6. How would you characterize Ishmael’s tone with the narrator in general, as they talk regularly?
7. Describe the narrator’s first encounter with Ishmael.
8. How does Ishmael say the Takers envision the earth?
9. How does the narrator react when Ishmael finally gets him to see that his culture’s narrative is just a myth—and what is the significance of the narrator’s response?
10. What does Ishmael say the narrator’s creation myth justifies?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
What is the benefit of delivering this information about mythology and the world in a dialogue with a telepathic gorilla, instead of a straight-forward essay or non-fiction book about myth and the history of mankind?
Essay Topic 2
When the narrator tells Ishmael that he has a question, Ishmael says that asking questions is what the narrator is there for. How seriously is this statement intended, do you think? Is that the narrator’s primary role—asking questions to elicit Ishmael’s stories—or does he have other purposes that are more important than that?
Essay Topic 3
Write an evaluative review of Ishmael. What is this book’s place in culture? What are its uses? What are its limitations?
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This section contains 1,031 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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