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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 the narrator say the sign "Tchk Tchk" refers to?

2. What does Lll dare Qfwfq to do when they are playing near the water?

3. After the narrator speculates that Ursula H'x and Lieutenant Fenimore might have met at some time in the past, what does he deduce from this speculation?

4. What unplanned benefit does the shell give the narrator?

5. What does Qfwfq predict will happen to stars?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what way, according to the narrator's description, does the existence of a shell bring about eyes and the ability to see?

2. What does the narrator think the first sign he sees is referring to?

3. Why does the narrator get an enormous sign of a hand with a pointing finger?

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

5. Describe the problems with the advice N'ba N'ga gives his family.

6. Which bets does Qfwfq find most satisfying?

7. In the end of the mollusk's story, in what way does he encounter the female mollusk?

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

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

10. What does Qfwfq do with the body of the dinosaur the New Ones find?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The stories in COSMICOMICS take place at different points of the universe, where distance and space play an important role. Discuss space and distance in COSMICOMICS.

1) What role does space and distance play in "All at One Point"? How does the confinement of a single point of space compare to the expanded universe and affect characters' perceptions and behaviors?

2) What role does space and distance play in "The Distance of the Moon" and "The Form of Space"? How does distance relate to love and attraction?

3) What role does space and distance play in "Games Without End?" What does the ending of the story say about space and distance?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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