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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. Which of the following is not something that the sergeant compares to the blind internees?

2. How do the inmates find their way back to the dormitory after picking up the food?

3. What item does the First Man accidentally leave with the Thief?

4. Who escorts the Thief home?

5. Whose spouse arrives with the new inmates?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the First Man's Wife's reaction to her husband when she comes home.

2. By this point, is the dispersal of food effectively organized by Chapter 7?

3. What is the government's plan for dealing with the outbreak at the end of Chapter 3?

4. What is the Thief's reaction to the suggestion that the Doctor be leader of the quarantined inmates?

5. Does the Doctor have an explanation for the First Man's sudden blindness?

6. Does the Doctor give up on the case of blindness in the First Man?

7. What does the Doctor do when his Wife tells him that a Man with an Eye-Patch has arrived in the ward?

8. What appears to be the pattern for the spread of blindness in the novel?

9. What is the Doctor's conclusion about the origin of his blindness?

10. Why do the guards fire on the inmates?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the use of violence in the novel. Is it seen as a purely evil force, or is its function in the novel more ambiguous? Why is it presented in such graphic detail? Write about each of the following violent episodes:

1. The gang-rape of the first ward women by the Thugs.

2. The murder of the Leader of the Thugs by the Doctor's Wife.

3. The burning down of the asylum.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the function of water in the novel. Write three body paragraphs about three instances in the novel when water plays an active role in the story. Be sure to write about its function both as a narrative device and as a symbol. Sum up Saramago's use of water as a symbol.

Essay Topic 3

In the latter passages of the novel, dogs are a constant presence in the filthy, dying streets of the blind city. Largely, they are seen as scavengers, but one - the dog of tears - is a healing gentle soul. What does he symbolize for the Doctor's Wife? To what extent does his arrival herald a turning point in the story? Is the dog otherworldly? Does it act against its nature? Write, in essay form, about the function of the dogs of tears, focusing a paragraph each of the following:

1. Its entrance into the story

2. Its attitude towards death

3. Its interactions with other dogs

(see the answer keys)

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