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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 Webber say is the reason the four of them feel a surge of dissonance that is more harmonious than the others?

2. When the narrator remembers a previous life in Chapter 6, what was he?

3. What does the narrator say was present with the formation of the United States?

4. Where do Webber and the narrator go when they leave the bunker?

5. What type of thought does the narrator attribute to the Far East?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Wil say is their task concerning the Group of Seven?

2. What does the narrator say he realized about humans born into the world?

3. What does a sudden connection with the narrator's Soul Group bring to his mind about a previous life?

4. What do Wil and the narrator see when they experience Feyman's Life Review?

5. What does Webber tell the narrator about Charlene?

6. Into what is the narrator drawn in hell and what does he see?

7. Who is one of the souls the narrator recognizes in hell?

8. What does the group do after Charlene explains why she is in the valley?

9. What happens to the group from the cave in Chapter 8 as they go towards the building with the Experiment?

10. In Chapter 8, what does the narrator hear as he returns to the physical plane and what does Webber tell him about the noise?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Some of the theories expounded in this section are certainly interesting - the idea, for example, that past unresolved conflicts are the source for present tension, and the idea that Soul Groups are unified by what might be described (but which actually aren't) as a talent.

1. Discuss what the ramifications would be for individuals if much of their behavior and personality were a result of previous lives.

2. If Soul Groups were indeed true, discuss in detail why it would be logical for them to be grouped as like talents.

3. For the sake of argument, assume reincarnation is true and argue for or against the idea that animals also experience reincarnation.

Essay Topic 2

The main narrative thrust is coming from energy of exploration rather than confrontation - in other words, the narrator is discovering the nature of his story's central conflict rather than playing out that conflict itself. Yes, the surges of dissonance create a certain degree of conflict and tension, but the narrator in Chapter 7, as in previous chapters, is reacting to that conflict rather than engaging in it, going deeper into what is essentially research rather than taking steps to ensure change.

1. Explain, with examples, why you think the main narrative thrust is coming from energy of exploration rather than confrontation.

2. Why do the surges of dissonance create a certain degree of conflict and tension in the novel? Explain why you think they create enough conflict and tension or if the author should have had more conflict. Use examples to support your opinion.

3. Discuss why the author reacts to the conflict in the story rather than engaging in it. Use examples to support your opinion.

Essay Topic 3

If a story can be likened to a jigsaw puzzle, the construction of a narrative telling that story can be likened to the careful placement of pieces of that puzzle in order to slowly, tantalizingly, and inevitably fill the reader with the desire to see the whole picture. In that sense, the telling of this particular story functions well, with details of meaning, incident, and relationship complimenting and illuminating each other with highly intriguing results.

1. What do you think the first sentence above means? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

2. In view of all the novels you have read or heard about or movies you have seen, explain why leaving readers with a "what happens next" question is universal. Use examples from this book and other books you have read to illustrate this principle and why it is used.

3. Do you believe the second sentence is true? Why or why not? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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