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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 item does the First Man accidentally leave with the Thief?

2. Whose spouse arrives with the new inmates?

3. Why does the Thief believe he is in his dire situation?

4. How does the first ward compare to the others in cleanliness?

5. What does the Ministry of Health require of the Doctor?

Short Essay Questions

1. What services will the government offer the quarantined inmates, according to the announcement?

2. How does the First Man compose himself in the Doctor's office?

3. How does the Man with the Eye-Patch describe the state of the outside world?

4. What bit of knowledge does the Thief reveal to the Doctor's Wife on the night of his death? What will he do with this knowledge?

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

6. Why do the guards fire on the inmates?

7. Describe the humiliation that occurs when the Doctor tries to use the toilet in Chapter 6.

8. Describe what happens when the Doctor's Wife wakes up in the morning.

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

10. How does the Thief suffer an injury?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Consider the government's plan for dealing with the white sickness. Knowing what transpires as time goes on, what steps could be taken to avoid the spread of the disease? If none, what course of action could have been taken to protect the population of the unnamed country?

Essay Topic 3

If the novel Blindness is a parable, what is the lesson? Each of the surviving characters grows in a certain way from their experience in quarantine. What does the breakdown of their lives teach them? Cite examples for three of the surviving characters, noting how they behave at the beginning of the novel and at the end.

(see the answer keys)

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