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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. What security measure does Victor take after he learns that Maurice and Mark were killed?

3. What previously unknown name does Marsha learn from Philip?

4. What does VJ show Victor?

5. What are Victor's last words to VJ?

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. How do VJ and Victor interact, when they go to VJ's lab in Chapter 13?

4. What does Victor ask the IT staff to do for him, regarding the files that have been found missing?

5. Describe how Victor destroys the secret lab.

6. What do the police do about the dead body Marsha finds when she arrives home?

7. What does Victor realize about the threatening attacks on the Frank home by Gephardt?

8. What does Marsha learn about Richie Blakemore?

9. Why does VJ let his father out of imprisonment?

10. When Victor returns to the lab, what does he try to convince VJ to do?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

VJ is described as evil by some of the characters in the novel. Discuss the novel's portrayal of evil.

1) What is the nature of evil in the novel, and how does the novel address the nature of evil? Is VJ truly evil, and how is he defined as evil?

2) Are Victor's actions evil? Is Victor an evil character? Is Victor more evil than VJ, or less? Why?

3) What other elements of evil, like the Colombian drug cartel, exist in the novel? In what ways are they evil? How does their evil compare to VJ.

Essay Topic 2

One important element in the novel is the nature of science. Discuss the nature of science as portrayed in the novel.

1) What is the purpose of science? What do the characters in the novel use science to accomplish?

2) Is science in itself good, bad, or neutral? How does the novel put a value on science?

3) How does the portrayal of science in the novel compare to the reality of science?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the conflict of nature and science in the novel.

1) What is the metaphoric significance of the river, a force of nature, and the clock tower, a work of science, in the novel? How is this metaphor carried out through the novel and especially at its end?

2) How do nature and science conflict in Victor's work? When science manipulates nature, what is the result?

3) In the novel, can mankind succeed in taming or defying nature? To what extent? Support your answer with evidence from the novel.

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