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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 Kelvin feel when he sees the two dresses on the floor?

2. In whose handwriting is the envelope Kelvin finds addressed?

3. Where does Kelvin lock Rheya?

4. What happens if a visitor is injured?

5. How does Kelvin recognize Snow?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Kelvin wearing when he arrives on the research station?

2. How does Kelvin periodically check to reassure himself that the research station's air circulatory system is working?

3. Describe the research station as Kelvin first sees it.

4. What do Rheya's death and Gibarian's death have in common?

5. Is Kelvin on time for his meeting with Snow?

6. Was Gibarian dead when Snow found him?

7. Describe Snow.

8. Why does Kelvin react emotionally to the two sundresses on the floor?

9. Describe the view of Solaris that Kelvin first sees from his room.

10. Why does Snow say the Polytherian forms are so dangerous?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Kelvin has complex emotions about the original Rheya, and these emotions are further complicated by the appearance of a new, duplicate Rheya. Kelvin first destroys one Rheya in a panic, and then wants to save the next. What does Kelvin really want? Discuss Kelvin's ambivalent feelings toward Rheya.

1) How do Kelvin's feelings of guilt and love for the first Rheya affect his attitude to the duplicate Rheyas?

2) Is it possible for Kelvin to distinguish his feelings for the Rheya of Solaris from his feelings for and memories of the original Rheya?

3) On a fundamental level, does Kelvin want Rheya to be there, or does he not want her to be there?

Essay Topic 2

At a sub-molecular level, Rheya is not human. Yet, on a normal level, Rheya is indistinguishable from a human being. Discuss Rheya's status as a person.

1) Is it possible that Rheya has no real "thought" process and is merely mimicking the behavior of a sentient creature? How would Kelvin know?

2) Should Rheya be treated as a person, with the rights and privileges of a human being? To what extent is she a person?

3) Could Rheya know if her thought process was fundamentally completely different from others', as long as her actions were human-like, and would it matter?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Andre Berton's experiences on Solaris.

1) What are the meanings and implications of what Andre Berton saw? What do they tell us about Solaris' oceans?

2) How are Andre Berton's experiences related to the experiences of the scientists on the research station? Compare and contrast those experiences.

3) Why did the panel disbelieve and suppress Berton's reports of the instance on Solaris? What does this say about the failures of science?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 721 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample