View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where were Gephardt's fraudulent purchases delivered?

2. What does VJ refuse to do at the beginning of Chapter 13?

3. Who does VJ learn was with Victor earlier in the day?

4. What behavioral problem does VJ have at school?

5. At the end of Chapter 9, what does VJ admit to his father that he's done?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe how Victor destroys the secret lab.

2. What happens to Victor when he's searching the clock tower?

3. What do Victor and Marsha decide about VJ?

4. What happens to Sharon Carver at the end of Chapter 9?

5. When Victor returns to the lab, what does he try to convince VJ to do?

6. What seems to have prompted VJ to stop going to daycare?

7. What conclusion does Marsha form about the security employees at VJ's lab?

8. What is the result of Marsha's discussion with her colleagues about VJ during Chapter 9?

9. What do the police do about the dead body Marsha finds when she arrives home?

10. Why did VJ want to appear to be less intelligent?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the structure of the novel.

1) Why does the author choose the particular scenes in the prologue and epilogue? How are they important to the story?

2) Why does the author tell the bulk of the novel over the course of a few days? How does the timeline affect the experience of reading the novel?

3) What are the moments of major revelation, crisis, and change in the novel? When do they occur, and how does the action build and resolve?

Essay Topic 2

Responsibility is an important aspect of Victor's relationship to VJ. Discuss responsibility in the novel.

1) What responsibilities does Victor have toward VJ, as his father? What additional responsibilities does Victor take on, by making the decision to genetically engineer VJ? How does Victor fulfill or shirk his responsibilities?

2) Is Victor's death at the end a consequence of his responsibility toward VJ as his creator?

3) As a parent, what are Marsha's responsibilities toward VJ? How does Marsha fulfill or shirk her responsibilities?

Essay Topic 3

One important element in the novel is the nature of science. Discuss the nature of science as portrayed in the novel.

1) What is the purpose of science? What do the characters in the novel use science to accomplish?

2) Is science in itself good, bad, or neutral? How does the novel put a value on science?

3) How does the portrayal of science in the novel compare to the reality of science?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 679 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample