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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. Why does the narrator call Andrew Martin’s mother back, after he hangs up on her?

2. Why does the narrator hang up on Andrew Martin’s mother?

3. What is the narrator’s favorite primer number?

4. How does Daniel Russell greet the narrator?

5. How does the narrator justify killing Daniel Russell?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens in the narrator’s interrogation by police?

2. How does the narrator explain the Riemann Hypothesis, and what does he say Andrew Martin discovered about it?

3. Who are the main characters the narrator introduces at the beginning of the novel?

4. How is the narrator ultimately captured by the police?

5. How does the narrator characterize life in the world he comes from?

6. What does the narrator learn about mathematicians that undermines his core beliefs about human beings?

7. What is happening in the first scene the narrator describes in his narrative?

8. How does the narrator characterize his relationship with his hosts, now that he is getting accustomed to Andrew Martin’s life?

9. How does the narrator characterize his relationship with Newton, the family dog?

10. How does Haig characterize the marriage between Andrew and Isobel Martin?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Which is more important in The Humans, math or poetry? Are they opposed to each other? Are they complementary? How does the book define the relation between math and poetry?

Essay Topic 2

Who in today’s world holds the view that humans are greedy and violent? What policies do the parties who believe this propose? Who in today’s world believes that humans are flawed but basically good? What policies do the parties who believe this propose? How does The Humans answer this divergence of opinions?

Essay Topic 3

Evaluate the ending of The Humans. Does it ring true to you? Does it successfully resolve the problems and tensions that preceded it? What would you change, if anything? What are you left wishing for closure on, if anything?

(see the answer keys)

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