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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 Kelvin find underlined in a book?

2. What does Kelvin find in his pocket?

3. What makes Solaris's orbit stable?

4. What does Rheya feel compelled to do?

5. Who led the first expedition to land on Solaris?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Snow say that mankind is seeking in outer space?

2. Describe the research station as Kelvin first sees it.

3. What aspect of clothing does Rheya have in common with the apparition Kelvin saw enter Gibarian's room?

4. What is Kelvin wearing when he arrives on the research station?

5. Describe Kelvin's first view of Solaris.

6. Why does Kelvin launch the shuttle?

7. Is Kelvin on time for his meeting with Snow?

8. What does Kelvin do before removing his spacesuit?

9. What do Rheya's death and Gibarian's death have in common?

10. Describe Snow.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the novel Solaris, humanity has searched through the reaches of the galaxy and tried to explain what it has found. By far, the greatest mystery has been Solaris.

1) What reasons do Solarists and humanity in general have for trying to explain and understand Solaris, and the other things found in the galaxy?

2) Does "explaining" Solaris make the ocean into a reflection of humanity and human traits?

3) Are the Solarists looking for something spiritual, beyond the nature of humanity? If so, is it possible for humans to connect with the spiritual, outside of the human realm?

Essay Topic 2

Kelvin has complex emotions about the original Rheya, and these emotions are further complicated by the appearance of a new, duplicate Rheya. Kelvin first destroys one Rheya in a panic, and then wants to save the next. What does Kelvin really want? Discuss Kelvin's ambivalent feelings toward Rheya.

1) How do Kelvin's feelings of guilt and love for the first Rheya affect his attitude to the duplicate Rheyas?

2) Is it possible for Kelvin to distinguish his feelings for the Rheya of Solaris from his feelings for and memories of the original Rheya?

3) On a fundamental level, does Kelvin want Rheya to be there, or does he not want her to be there?

Essay Topic 3

Solaris is written in the first person point of view, from Kelvin's perspective. Discuss point of view in Solaris.

1) Kelvin enters the Solaris research in the middle of the action, when Gibarian is already dead. Why does the author choose to begin with Kelvin's arrival into an already ongoing situation?

2) The first person point of view restricts the reader's knowledge to Kelvin's thoughts and perception. Why does the author choose this point of view?

3) Why does the author focus on Kelvin as a character and Kelvin's interaction with his visitor, to the exclusion of the other visitors?

(see the answer keys)

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