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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. How does Leo feel upon seeing the monument dedicated to his own killing of Palmer Eldritch?

2. What are the symptoms that Barney will display once he has taken the toxin at the direction of Leo?

3. Who brings lunch and tea to Barney when he is out working on the hovel's farm?

4. Only what body can legally route Barney back to Earth?

5. Before releasing Leo for a period of time, Palmer Eldritch tells Leo that he will take what action if Leo decides not to join him?

Short Essay Questions

1. Discuss the reasons behind Barney's decision to stop fighting the emigration draft.

2. What is the price difference between Can-D and Chew-Z?

3. In what way are Barney's experiences with Anne on Mars significant?

4. Discuss two ways in which the themes of science and religion intermingle within Leo's interactions with Palmer Eldritch.

5. Discuss how the theme of despair arises within the novel's portrayal of Barney.

6. What terms does Palmer Eldritch present to Leo just before Leo tries to strangle him?

7. What special right is provided to colonists who willingly agree to emigrate?

8. What occurs during Barney’s first experience under the influence of Chew-Z?

9. In what way does Barney feel complicit in the desperate attitudes of the colonists?

10. What connection does Leo draw between his sighting of a Proxer standing over Dr. Smile and the nature of Palmer Eldritch?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Trace the characterization arc of Barney’s character throughout the novel. Discuss whether Barney is a round or flat character and whether he is a static or dynamic character.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the author's messages about guilt and responsibility within Philip K. Dick’s novel The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. Focus especially on poignant events such as the moment when Richard realizes that the risky e-therapy he had insisted his devoted wife Emily undergo, even after she had protested heartily, has now permanently robbed her of both her artistic talent with pottery and her ability to think clearly in everyday situations.

Essay Topic 3

Analyze Philip K. Dick’s novel The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch from an Existential perspective. What elements of life does it suggest hold the most meaning and how does Philip K. Dick get this message across to the reader?

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