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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 characters are not in the Doctor's waiting room?

2. Who escorts the Thief home?

3. How does the Doctor know who comes into the quarantine?

4. Why isn't the First Man's wife home?

5. What does the First Man see after he goes blind?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What is the Thief's state of mind at the beginning of Chapter 2?

3. What insights does the Doctor's Wife have about the society of blind people in quarantine in the beginning of Chapter 5?

4. Who in the first ward dies in the hail of fire?

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

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

7. Why do the guards fire on the inmates?

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

9. How does the Thief suffer an injury?

10. How are conditions in quarantine affected as more inmates arrive throughout Chapter 5?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Saramago makes several references to the old cliche: "in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." In the central section of the novel, he pits two characters with sensory advantages against each other: the Doctor's Wife, who can see, and the Chronicler, who was born blind and can read and type braille. Compare and contrast these two "one-eyed men" and how they use or do not use their advantages. Is either truly a leader or "king" in the quarantine? What does each hope to achieve for their constituency?

Essay Topic 2

The character of the Thief dominates much of the beginning of the novel, but he is the first internee to die. Choose one of the following questions about the Thief to answer in essay form:

1.) The Thief - in his last moments - privately contends that he is not dying because of any sin he has committed, but because he helped the First Man after he went blind. Do you agree with this? Defend your position, citing evidence in the novel.

2.) The Thief is an anarchist force when he enters quarantine. He quarrels regularly, fights movement to organize, and declares that at last he is equal to those around him. To what extent does he represent the antithesis of the Thugs that will arrive after his death?

Essay Topic 3

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?

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