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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 Bill notice about his hands?
2. What happened to Susan's friend?
3. Who organizes Tynsham?
4. How does Bill suggest they begin to search for Josella in the Downs?
5. What does Bill discover has happened at Tynsham?
Short Essay Questions
1. Describe Shirning Farm.
2. Describe how Bill finds Josella.
3. Describe how Bill first discovers the plague, its symptoms, and its result.
4. Describe the scene with the man in the inn at Steeple Honey.
5. Describe what happens to Bill at the beginning of Chapter Eight, in terms of how he is kidnapped.
6. Describe Miss Durrant's views, and her Tynsham community.
7. Why do you think the small groups located by helicopter in Chapter Twelve choose not to join other groups?
8. Explain how Coker meets with Bill again.
9. Explain Bill's argument that an immediate need for harvest is not necessary.
10. Describe how Coker came to remain sighted.
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
The Day of The Triffids was written in 1951, after WWII. Do you think WWII had an influence on the themes in the novel? Why or why not? If so, what themes are present in the novel that lead you to believe so? If not, why do you think, then, that Wyndham references America as a saving country and the date the bomb dropped on Hiroshima (pg. 95)? Do you think there are threads of communism, socialism, the Cold War, and other WWII themes in the novel? How are those themes represented in the novel?
Essay Topic 2
Throughout the novel, there is a consistent struggle between doing what is morally right and doing what is necessary for survival. Choose one representation of this struggle from the following list and explain it in detail. What is the conflict? Why is there a conflict? How is one path more morally right than the other? Can the moral path not lead to survival in some way and the survival path not be made moralistically right? Why or why not? Be sure to be specific in relating the struggle back to the novel.
• Married men at University Tower being forced to mate and care for two blind women, as well.
• The forced care of ten blind persons by one sighted person as dictated by the Emergency Council.
• The choice of saving the blind at Tynsham even at the expense of the sighted.
Essay Topic 3
Throughout the novel, the narrator is forced to deal with figures in authority and to choose whether to believe what they say or not. Authority figures in the novel range from radio announcers to people in authoritative positions, such as the Colonel and Coker, and those who wish power over anything else, such as the Commander. Choose one situation in which Bill is forced to choose between following authority and ignoring authority. Explain the situation. What does this say about Bill's willingness to think for himself? About his willingness to blindly follow authority figures? Why is this important? In terms of authority in the novel, what is the author suggesting about military authority? How are these suggestions brought forth (i.e., which characters represent military authority). What does this say about Wyndham's own view of military authority?
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This section contains 1,040 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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