View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Janice instruct the youth group members to write on their note cards that they will then burn?

2. Sebastian tells the reader that when he was five years old, the only way he could fall asleep was if what action was being done?

3. When Nana is allowed to go home after three days in the hospital, what are her first words to Sebastian after she calls his name in the night?

4. What type of shape composes Sebastian and Nana's geodesic dome?

5. For what purpose does Nana first ask Sebastian to purchase paint in town?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the Guiding Principles according to Buckminster Fuller's philosophy of life.

2. How does Janice's invitation to stay for lunch serve as a major turning point in Sebastian's life?

3. How do Sebastian's train of simple postscripts in his emails to Jared intrigue and draw Jared in to a friendship?

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

5. 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?

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

7. What is the significance of the framed photographs of the dome that Nana and Sebastian sell in their gift shop?

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

9. What is the significance of Sebastian's online search for information about Sid Vicious?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is Nana's function in the novel and what messages does the author get across to the reader through the use of her character?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the ways in which the philosophies of Buckminster Fuller have had a positive effect on Sebastian's character and behaviors. What is the author's purpose in pointing out the positive aspects of Buckminster Fuller's restrictive philosophies?

Essay Topic 3

What is the novel's message concerning vulnerability within the human condition?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,229 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample