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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. After her apartment explodes, where does Robin Wednesbury end up?

2. What is the Secret Speech of the Intelligence Tong of the Inner Planets Armed Forces?

3. Who appears and speaks to Foyle in the Mars St. Michele catacombs?

4. Why do Dagenham, Jiz, Y'ang-Yeovil, and Presteign PyrE?

5. Where does Foyle find Robin after his encounter with the Jack-jaunters?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Robin do regarding Foyle at the opening of Chapter 12, and what secret of hers is made known?

2. Who does Fourmyle see from the Gouffre Martel at Presteign's New Year's Eve party, and what is his response upon seeing this individual?

3. Describe the Cellar Christians and why they feel the need to conduct themselves in the fashion they do.

4. How does Robin assist Foyle in his role as Geoffrey Fourmyle?

5. What does Olivia Presteign tell her father about Foyle that stuns him?

6. What do we learn is the origin of the Burning Man?

7. What is the nature of the small slugs Foyle sent around the world as revealed in Chapter 15?

8. Describe Analogue and how and why it is used.

9. Describe Geoffrey Fourmyle.

10. Describe a sympathetic block.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the last two chapters of the book, author Bester basically throws convention to the wind and attempts to describe what happens with Foyle in hyperbolic language and graphic representations of what is fundamentally indescribable. Discuss Bester's use of these tools, how effective you felt they were, and share an alternate way of communicating the same truths without using the same conventions Bester did.

Essay Topic 2

The Stars My Destination was written in 1956. While parts of the novel are dated, other parts have stood the test of time. Identify two or three "big themes" the novel tackles--themes that exist outside the constraints of science fiction--and explain how those themes still resonate and have value to readers today.

Essay Topic 3

Torture occurs several times in The Stars My Destination. Foyle is questioned and tortured in Chapter 4. Discuss how torture, in Foyle's case, is designed to alter an internal reality to generate and external result. Discuss the ironic truth that what drives Foyle also protects him from giving in to torture. Explain how revenge has given Foyle the sense of purpose that was missing in the first chapter.

(see the answer keys)

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