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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. Why is the Gaunt Old Woman's body particularly light?

2. What item does the Doctor's Wife find in her purse that could be used as a weapon?

3. Which two characters are given sneakers rather than boots by the Doctor's Wife?

4. Who vomits as a result of the corpse being eaten?

5. Which two characters in the first ward collect and deliver the valuables?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the Doctor's Wife say to silence the Thugs when they stop by the first ward at the beginning of Chapter 12?

2. Why doesn't the Doctor's Wife tell the other inmates that she can see?

3. How does the first ward get its information of the outside world?

4. How does the Girl with Dark Glasses respond to the Man with the Eye-Patch's declaration of love?

5. How do the Thugs keep track of their earnings?

6. How do the Thugs take control of the food rations?

7. What is the general attitude in the other wards when food stops arriving at the main entrance?

8. What plan does the Doctor's Wife and her band of companions develop after the asylum burns down?

9. What does the unnamed woman do with the lighter she finds among her baggage?

10. In what state do the Doctor and his Wife find the Gaunt Old Woman when they approach her building?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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 3

Discuss the devolution of post-industrial society in the novel by choosing one of the following questions to answer in essay form:

1.) The Doctor's Wife is a witness to degradation and dehumanization in the quarantine. What are some examples of the subhuman conditions in the asylum, and what is Saramago saying about the trajectory human nature takes when standards of living are reduced to subsistence levels?

2.) Discuss the relationship of the Thugs to the rest of the quarantine after the Thugs take control of the food supply. How does this feudal relationship involve inmates relying wholeheartedly on those who subjugate them?

3.) The Man with the Eye-Patch that the state of the city after the blindness has swept the country is similar to the origins of man. How does this city resemble pre-agrarian times, citing examples of modern social standards that have vanished?

(see the answer keys)

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