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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 Kelvin say when Snow suggests Kelvin's "god" is mankind?

2. What does Rheya give Kelvin before he goes to sleep after he asks what she's doing in the night?

3. What makes Rheya nervous about Snow?

4. When does Snow say the experiment will be ready?

5. What does Kelvin try to do after Rheya tries to kill herself?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Gravinsk's Compendium commonly used for?

2. What does Rheya say in her suicide note?

3. How does Kelvin imagine his return to Earth?

4. What does Rheya want from Kelvin, after she listens to the tape recorder?

5. What does Snow call Rheya?

6. Why does Kelvin say he doesn't want Rheya to overhear his conversation?

7. Does Snow believe Kelvin when Kelvin says he loves Rheya?

8. What formation does Kelvin see as the ship travels to the polar region of Solaris?

9. How does Snow describe Rheya's final moments?

10. What metaphor does Kelvin use to describe trying to understand Solaris?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the novel Solaris, the ocean is depicted as a mirror that shows humanity, on some level, only a reflection of itself, perhaps without even realizing it.

1) Is it possible that Solaris has no real consciousness but is a kind of machine that throws back to the scientists images of their own minds?

2) Is humanity incapable of seeing in Solaris anything but itself, no matter what the truth of Solaris' consciousness may be?

3) Does Solaris show the scientists at any point anything beyond what's in their own minds?

Essay Topic 2

In the novel Solaris, humanity has searched through the reaches of the galaxy and tried to explain what it has found. By far, the greatest mystery has been Solaris.

1) What reasons do Solarists and humanity in general have for trying to explain and understand Solaris, and the other things found in the galaxy?

2) Does "explaining" Solaris make the ocean into a reflection of humanity and human traits?

3) Are the Solarists looking for something spiritual, beyond the nature of humanity? If so, is it possible for humans to connect with the spiritual, outside of the human realm?

Essay Topic 3

Evaluate Rheya's individuality and separateness from Kelvin.

1) Why can't Rheya leave Kelvin's sight when she first appears, and why does she grow more physically independent the longer she exists?

2) Does Rheya merely reflect Kelvin's deepest memories, thoughts, and beliefs, or is she separate from him?

3) Does Rheya become an individual over the course of the story, or is she trapped into being a reflection of Kelvin's thoughts and memories?

(see the answer keys)

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