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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. When Nana has a stroke, how long does Sebastian tell the reader it takes the ambulance to arrive after Janice Whitcomb calls 911?

2. What term does Sebastian use to refer to his instrument in the band that prompts Jared to tell him never to call it that again?

3. In what town do Sebastian and Nana live?

4. What happens to cut the first youth group meeting short?

5. What does Sebastian uncover about Sid Vicious's amplifier in his research about the punk rock icon?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Sebastian reveal to the reader about crying during the scene when he is riding with Nana in the ambulance?

2. How do Nana's past predictions about Sebastian's path contrast with her pronouncements about him after her stroke?

3. What does Sebastian say he used to require from Nana in order to be able to fall asleep and what is its significance?

4. What does Sebastian notice about Nana's clothing just before her stroke?

5. What is the significance of Sebastian's first experience in a record store?

6. What comments of Sebastian's upon his first visit to Jared's house infuriate Jared and cause him to lash out at Sebastian?

7. How do Nana's first comments to Sebastian in the hospital foreshadow coming events?

8. What character traits of Jared's are displayed during the scene of Nana's stroke before the ambulance arrives?

9. What does Sebastian notice affixed to Jared's Mp3 player when Janice is driving him away from the hospital and what does it signify?

10. What is the first question Jared asks Sebastian after he is told that Sebastian may sound funny to others since he hardly ever leaves the dome?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the theme of isolation function within the novel and what is the author's message regarding this theme?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the relationship between Jared and Janice. In what ways is this mother-son relationship dysfunctional and what does the author appear to suggest as the key to making a dysfunctional relationship into a healthier one?

Essay Topic 3

What is the significance of Buckminster Fuller's philosophies within the novel and how do the tenets of his teaching interact with the novel's themes?

(see the answer keys)

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