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. What does the woman think Fred's name is?

2. Which part of the brain provides back up?

3. Where does Fred go before his meeting with Hank?

4. What does Arctor feel watching him when he arrives home?

5. What does Freck see while on the psychedelics?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Fred see on the holoscan when he watches himself having sex with Connie?

2. What do the women tell Fred in the cafeteria?

3. What story does Bruce tell Thelma?

4. What artifacts does Freck decide to leave behind when he commits suicide?

5. What do Arctor and his roommates say about Donna?

6. How does Barris dismiss a call from one of Arctor's creditors?

7. Why is Arctor called Bruce in this chapter?

8. What does Fred think about Arctor in Chapter 12?

9. What is the Game?

10. In what way can the reader see Connie as a pitiful character?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Look at the structure of the novel.

1) How does Dick use character and dialogue to drive the narrative?

2) Discuss elements of the narrative structure: exposition, conflict, complication, climax, resolution and conclusion. Do all the elements make for a logical and linear story? How does the story's structure express the novel's themes?

3) Aside from the main character, examine the way Dick uses the other characters in the story. When does he introduce and take them away from the story? What effect does it have on the story?

Essay Topic 2

Philip K. Dick greatly influenced modern literature and, in particular, science fiction. Choose a book written after the novel that you think was influenced by Dick and discuss there similarities in terms of

a) plot

b) character

c) themes

Essay Topic 3

Dick writes A SCANNER DARKLY in the third person. Why do you think Dick chose to write the story in the third person? How do you think the meaning of the story would have changed if Dick wrote it in the first person?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 724 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample