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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 do the surveyor and the biologist discover when they return to base camp after their second trip into the tower?

2. Who sees the tower first in 01:Initiation?

3. How many expeditions have been to Area X, including the one in 01:Initiation?

4. How does the surveyor respond when the biologist asks whether she will wait at base camp?

5. To what do the inhaled spores make the narrator immune?

Short Essay Questions

1. What comparison does the narrator make between the ocean air and the air back home in "Initiation"?

2. What is unique about the pool that the biologist had at her home growing up?

3. What is the moaning sound that the expedition hears in Area X?

4. What are the members of the 12th expedition told to do with their journals?

5. How does the biologist feel when members of the Southern Reach come for her husband after he returned from Area X?

6. What happens when the members of the expedition call back to the low moaning sound that comes from Area X at dusk?

7. What does the anthropologist's body look like when the biologist finds her in the tunnel?

8. What does the biologist notice about the psychologist in the initial conversation about the anthropologist's absence in 02: Integration?

9. What does the biologist believe would happen if the expedition members were to immediately search for the anthropologist in 02: Integration?

10. How do the members of the expedition celebrate after their first exploration of the structure made from coquina and stone?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the role of the biologist's husband in the text. Why would Vandermeer include him in the text? What does he reveal about the character(s) and how does he move the plot forward?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze Vandermeer's use, or lack their of, of names and the ambiguity of language in the text. Why does Vandermeer keep the charters nameless?

Essay Topic 3

Vandermeer uses strong sensory details throughout the text. He is especially prone to using vivid color descriptions. Write an essay analyzing Vandermeer's use of color in the text. Describe when it appears and analyze its impact on the tone of the novel and the development of the characters.

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This section contains 695 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample