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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. About how long has the Authority been in power?

2. What force drives the floating bobble of the tenement building inland?

3. What does Della want to do with Kaladze?

4. What is Kaladze's group waiting for?

5. What does Avery say Della has reported to him about Paul?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Mike contact Della, and what information is exchanged?

2. Why does Avery decide to enact Renaissance?

3. Why does Kaladze say Wili should trust Mike?

4. How does Wili manipulate the Authority's communication system for the Tinker's advantage?

5. Why does Wili decide to trust Mike?

6. What major intelligence problem does the Authority face during the battle, and what does Della recommend to solve it?

7. What happens during Della's attack on the pass?

8. How does Avery lose control over the situation early in the battle with the Tinkers?

9. Why does Mike decide to embobble himself?

10. How does Wili manipulate Della and Mike while they are at the demonstration of the power generator?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Authority is a world-spanning organization that maintains control over most of the globe through aggressive use of the bobbles, which it has exclusive access to. Although it ostensibly exists to maintain peace throughout the world, it also causes a considerable amount of human suffering and carries out various immoral acts.

1) Discuss what the Authority is, and how it came to power. Explain its organization, goals, and resources.

2) Describe the ways the Authority harms humanity through its restrictions on technology and its aggressive maintenance of the peace.

3) Explain how the Authority is able to maintain public support for its rule, despite its despotic activities and harsh restrictions.

Essay Topic 2

The Tinkers are a wide spread and loosely organized group that reveres Paul and his work. Although they suffer a significant blow during the events after the chess tournament, their actions as a group drive the plot of the second half of the novel.

1) Describe the Tinkers as a group, their organization, resources, philosophy, and goals.

2) Describe the relationship between the Authority and the Tinkers and discuss the reasons this relationship becomes stressed to the point of war.

3) Discuss some of the major aids that the Tinkers are able to provide to the average people of this setting, and describe the general attitude of those people towards the Tinkers.

Essay Topic 3

The final chapters of the book center around the final conflict between the Tinkers and the Authority. After Paul and the others are discovered, a large battle ensues, raging in the area around the Authority enclave for multiple days.

1) Briefly explain the events leading up to the final conflict between the Tinkers and the Authority and the reasons both sides have for engaging in the conflict.

2) Discuss the major advantages both sides bring to the battle, including factors such as intelligence, planning, numbers, and technology.

3) Describe the course of the battle, including its major events and resolution.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 898 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample