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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 is the name of the Astronomer Royal?

2. What happens to the narrator when he reaches the other bank in the small boat?

3. What can survive the heat ray?

4. A soldier tells the narrator that when a man waved a flag on a long pole at the Martians, the Martians responded by:

5. What do the people near the cylinder hear coming from inside of it at the end of the first day after the cylinder crashes?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to the house in Halliford, and why is this important?

2. Why does the narrator walk toward the Martian down the road after leaving the pub?

3. How far does news of the heat-ray spread after the first attack? What does this indicate?

4. Why do scientists think that Mars cannot support life?

5. What weapon do the Martians use when the first cylinder opens, and how does this change the story?

6. What does the narrator's brother do for the women in the carriage? What does this reveal about his character?

7. What are the citizens of Weybridge doing when the narrator and artilleryman arrive?

8. Why are the milkman and the train reassuring to the narrator after the first heat-ray?

9. Why does the newspaper editor in London refuse to print a story about the Martians?

10. Describe what the Martians look like.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In what ways is War of the Worlds a social commentary?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the Martians in detail, and explain why they are so different from humans.

Essay Topic 3

Explain how War of the Worlds fits the traditional plot structure of a novel.

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