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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 Dean (k)yK react when Qfwfq loses a bet?

2. How does Qfwfq feel about N'ba N'ga?

3. Where does the narrator strike Lieutenant Fenimore as he falls on him?

4. How often does the whole family visit N'ba N'ga to get his advice?

5. What type of fish is N'ba N'ga?

Short Essay Questions

1. When does the narrator suppose that he might finally meet Ursula, and what does he fear about that potential meeting?

2. What second enormous hand sign does the narrator make, and why?

3. What gives Qfwfq an advantage over Dean (k)yK when they bet during the early evolution of the universe?

4. How does the narrator describe being with Ursula H'x when their routes intersect?

5. How does Lll react when she first meets N'ba N'ga?

6. What is the attitude of the New Ones to the Dinosaurs, when Qfwfq first encounters the New Ones after his period of isolation?

7. Which bets does Qfwfq find most satisfying?

8. What explanation does the narrator give for caring about the opinion of whoever wrote the sign he first sees?

9. How do the New Ones' perception of dinosaurs change over the time Qfwfq is with them?

10. What causes the narrator's suspicions about the female he encounters?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout COSMICOMICS, characters generate ideas for the first time and do or conceive of things before the things themselves, or integral parts of those things, exist. Discuss these prototypes in COSMICOMICS.

1) How does Qfwfq think about the first sign? What is the significance of the sign being the "first"? How does this prototype differ from later signs?

2) How does the society in the point in "All at One Point" function as a prototype of later societies that will exist in the expanded universe?

3) How do the characters in "How Much Shall We Bet?" create a prototype of betting? How does betting change as the universe develops?

4) Why are there so many prototypes throughout COSMICOMICS? How are they related to each other and to the themes of the story collection?

Essay Topic 2

Many of the stories in COSMICOMICS deal with change and stasis, and the characters' reactions to changes in their world. Discuss change and stasis in COSMICOMICS.

1) Which of the stories in COSMICOMICS are set at moments of change in the development of the universe? How do the characters respond to change?

2) Are there patterns to how different types of characters respond to change in COSMICOMICS? How do women respond differently than men? How do older people respond differently to younger people?

3) What is the role of stasis in COSMICOMICS? In what way are the end of "Games without End" and the parallel falls in "The Form of Space" representations of stasis, in contrast to change represented in other stories?

Essay Topic 3

Each story in COSMICOMICS is based on a snippet of information about science. Discuss the role of science in Calvino's stories.

1) How does the author choose the science information to base the stories on? Why are some of the science ideas and theories ones that have been disproved?

2) What role does science play in the stories themselves? Why does Calvino make his stories fantastical, and what relationship does the fantastical have to science?

3) What is Calvino's attitude toward science in COSMICOMICS?

(see the answer keys)

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