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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 Marsha learn about VJ's school attendance from his principal?

2. How does Victor feel about what VJ reveals to him?

3. What does Victor at first think Gephardt must have done with what he purchased?

4. Where does Victor follow VJ and Philip to?

5. What does VJ refuse to do at the beginning of Chapter 13?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Victor's reaction to what Marsha learned from VJ's school?

2. What happens to Sharon Carver at the end of Chapter 9?

3. Describe Marsha and Victor's conflicting views of VJ during Chapter 12.

4. What do Victor and Marsha decide about VJ?

5. What seems to have prompted VJ to stop going to daycare?

6. What is the result of Marsha's discussion with her colleagues about VJ during Chapter 9?

7. What happens to Victor when he's searching the clock tower?

8. What does Victor finally admit to his wife in Chapter 9?

9. How much of the secret lab does Victor see?

10. What are Victor's feelings about Marsha's attitude toward what they discover about VJ?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the settings of the novel.

1) Discuss the setting of the Chimera compound. How does the size of the compound affect the story? How does the security of the compound affect the story?

2) Discuss the setting of the clock tower and river. What do the clock tower and river add to the tone and mood of the story? How do they help the plot of the story to develop?

3) How do the time the novel is set in and the time period the novel was written in affect it? Will the novel continue to be relevant as time passes?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the structure of the novel.

1) Why does the author choose the particular scenes in the prologue and epilogue? How are they important to the story?

2) Why does the author tell the bulk of the novel over the course of a few days? How does the timeline affect the experience of reading the novel?

3) What are the moments of major revelation, crisis, and change in the novel? When do they occur, and how does the action build and resolve?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the novel's portrayal of intelligence.

1) What does high intelligence change about a person? How does VJ's intelligence affect him? How are Maurice and Mark' affected by their genius-level intelligence?

2) How does low intelligence affect a person? Discuss the portrayal of Philip, who is mentally handicapped.

3) How are the characters with normal-range intelligence affected by their intellectual abilities?

(see the answer keys)

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