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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 is the name of the pathologist?

2. The teens who discovered the victim are described as being what?

3. After investigators find the van that transported the victim, they discover what inside?

4. What is the name Borlú assigns to the victim?

5. What is the victim's real name?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the discovery of the victim at the beginning of the novel.

2. What is Orciny?

3. Who is Yolanda Rodriguez and what is notable about her?

4. What does the informant tell Borlú about the victim?

5. What is the DöplirCaffé and what is notable about it?

6. In the hours immediately following the discovery of the murder, what do the detectives believe about the victim?

7. Who is Khurusch and where was he on the night of the murder?

8. Who is Pall Drodin and what does he tell Borlú about the victim?

9. Describe the process necessary for Borlú to travel to Ul Qoma.

10. What information does Borlú learn from Khurusch?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss places such as Copula Hall, DöplirCaffé, crosshatched areas, and dissensi. How do such places enhance the setting(s) as well as the novel’s themes?

Essay Topic 2

Seeing (and, by contrast) “unseeing” are both essential concepts to the novel. Explain how these concepts are necessary to daily life and how they influence the novel’s themes.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the character of Mahalia Geary. Although she has died before the novel opens, she nevertheless has a great impact on the novel. Analyze Geary’s impact on Borlú as well as on the novel’s conflicts and themes.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 648 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample