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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What are the Vindications?
(a) The laws of the Library of Babel.
(b) Books that cause destruction.
(c) Books of apology and prophecy.
(d) Songs of the future.

2. Who is the narrator in "An Examination of the Work of Herbert Quain"?
(a) Quain.
(b) Menard.
(c) Borges.
(d) Al-Mu'tasim.

3. What does Ts'ui Pen wish to create before his death?
(a) A legacy.
(b) A great sculpture.
(c) A great labyrinth.
(d) An epic poem.

4. Why are some lottery players imprisoned?
(a) They steal tickets.
(b) They murder the winners.
(c) They refuse to pay a fine.
(d) They refuse to buy tickets.

5. Who does Dr. Yu Tsun shoot?
(a) Dr. Stephen Albert.
(b) Ts'ui Pen.
(c) Himself.
(d) Richard Madden.

6. How is the lottery unusual?
(a) Winners are sent into exile.
(b) People trade food for lottery tickets.
(c) A new drawing after the death of the previous lottery winner.
(d) There are adverse outcomes for some players.

7. What does the lottery cause?
(a) A rebellion.
(b) A plague.
(c) Overcrowding.
(d) The end of the world.

8. In "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius", what topic is the narrator discussing when the subject of the encyclopedia is brought up?
(a) Mirrors.
(b) Books.
(c) Rivers.
(d) Time.

9. Who is Dr. Yu Tsun?
(a) A spy.
(b) A statesman.
(c) A professor.
(d) A soldier.

10. What does Herbert Quain inspire the narrator to write?
(a) Bee! I'm expecting you!
(b) The Road Not Taken.
(c) The Circular Ruins.
(d) O Captain! My Captain!

11. Which author corresponds with the narrator in "Pierre Menard, Author of Don Quixote"?
(a) Emily Dickinson.
(b) Edgar Allen Poe.
(c) Pierre Menard.
(d) Miguel de Cervantes.

12. From what point of view is "The Library of Babel" written?
(a) Second person omniscient.
(b) Third person.
(c) First person.
(d) Second person.

13. What fear does the protagonist of "The Circular Ruins" have for his son?
(a) The gods will steal him.
(b) He will die in a fire.
(c) He will discover he is the product of a dream.
(d) He will disappear.

14. Who is the student searching for in "The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim"?
(a) A saint who walks the Earth.
(b) The blind astrologer.
(c) The Moslem family.
(d) The Hindu family.

15. What is The Secret Mirror?
(a) A novel.
(b) A magazine article.
(c) A short story.
(d) A play.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which town does Dr. Yu Tsun believe the British intend to attack?

2. What is the name of the god of the temple in "The Circular Ruins"?

3. From what point of view is "The Approach of Al-Mu'tasim" written?

4. What type of genre is Herbert Quain's first novel?

5. What is unique about the objects from Tlon that are released into the narrator's world?

(see the answer keys)

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