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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 do after he showers and changes?

2. Whose voice speaks to Kelvin in the capsule to prepare him for landing?

3. What does Rheya's blood look like to Kelvin at the cellular level?

4. When was Solaris first discovered?

5. How does Kelvin recognize Snow?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Kelvin periodically check to reassure himself that the research station's air circulatory system is working?

2. What do the scientists see when the cover falls off Sartorius' video phone?

3. Why does Kelvin take the Historia Solaris down from the bookshelf?

4. Was Gibarian dead when Snow found him?

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

6. Describe the view of Solaris that Kelvin first sees from his room.

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

8. Describe the person Kelvin is shocked to see go into Gibarian's room.

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

In Solaris, Kelvin is faced with his most deeply held guilt and desire. Similarly, the other characters are faced with repressed desires and obsessions, ones that horrify them when they're brought into reality.

1) What does the novel say about mankind's knowledge of himself and his own desires?

2) Are people's deepest desires always confounded with guilt, shame, or other negative emotions?

2) Why can't the scientists, as Kelvin suggests at one point, learn to live openly with their visitors and adjust to the situation over time?

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