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 biologist find when she investigates the back room at the lower level of the lighthouse?

2. What nickname did the biologist go by with her husband?

3. What does the psychologist say the biologist was doing as she walked to the lighthouse?

4. What name does the biologist give to the thing writing words on the walls of the tower?

5. What does the Southern Reach tell the people in the surrounding areas to explain Area X?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the biologist discover in the lower levels of the lighthouse?

2. What does the biologist learn as she reads the surveyor's journal?

3. What is unique about the dolphin that the biologist experiences on her way to the lighthouse?

4. What does the biologist infer about the man whose face is circled in the picture she discovers in the lighthouse?

5. What does the biologist notice about the lighthouse when she sees it for the first time?

6. What reason does the psychologist give the biologist for being on the beach?

7. What does the biologist decide about the words in the tower?

8. What does the biologist learn about the moaning noise on her way back to basecamp in 04: Immersion?

9. What does the biologist reveal about her husband's nightmares?

10. What are some details that the biologist learns from the journals that she finds under the trap door in the lighthouse?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One of the prominent themes of the novel is "what makes us human." Analyze how this text grapples with that idea. Use the text for evidence and analyze, according to the text, what makes us human.

Essay Topic 2

Though the novel mostly takes place within Area X, the biologist offers occasional descriptions of the outside world from which she came. Write an essay analyzing the biologist's descriptions of the outside world to determine what she believes of the world outside and how these beliefs connect to the themes of the novel.

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.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 776 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample