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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 did Pantocyclus tell the workmen they would have to accept?

2. What does the Equilateral triangle look like in Flatland?

3. What have the priests discovered about increasing laws against women that force them to be confined at home?

4. What physical trait makes women in Flatland dangerous?

5. What power do women have in Flatland that makes them even more deadly?

Short Essay Questions

1. What tools do inhabitants use to discern direction in Flatland?

2. How does A. Square explain the lack of ability to discern changes in retraction or projection in Chapter 1?

3. Discuss at least two ways the inhabitants of Flatland attempt to alter natural evolution.

4. What is the author's primary defense against the idea that those in Flatland should recognize thickness, and infer a dimension?

5. Explain how sound is used to recognize lower shape classes, and why such a method cannot be used by the upper class.

6. Summarize A. Square's explanation of Flatland.

7. Explain how sight recognition is used in upper classes, and why such a method cannot be used for the lower class.

8. In Chapter 5, A. Square explains how the Law of Nature provides an alphabet of angles through the birth of irregular angles and shapes. Explain what is done with irregular specimens in Flatland. Be sure to include small angle shapes in your discussion.

9. Based on the end of the Preface, what is the author attempting to say about the ruling class of his time?

10. What are some of the characteristics of women in Chapter 5?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the novel, the idea of individuals using drastic measures to overcome their position in life is presented. Give at least two examples of this in the novel, and discuss in depth the process these individuals endure. Do you think such drastic measures are used in today's society? Do you believe such measures are justified?

Essay Topic 2

In Flatland, Abbott uses shapes as representations of individuals within his own society. Choose three shapes from Flatland, and discuss how they relate to the true groups such shapes represent. Be sure to include such concepts as class, intellectual pursuit, and power.

Essay Topic 3

List and describe the three dimensions discussed in the novel. Be sure to include as many details about each as possible.

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