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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 information - beside the fact that she can see - does the Doctor's Wife not volunteer to the man she talks to on the street?

2. In addition to the gun, what else do the Thugs carry as weapons?

3. What important item did the Doctor's Wife bring from the asylum?

4. Whose lodging does that group decide to skip on their journey?

5. What do the Thugs demand in Chapter 9 in exchange for food?

Short Essay Questions

1. What idea does the Doctor's Wife have when it starts raining?

2. How does the Writer go about writing without his sight?

3. Describe the old woman with insomnia in Chapter 9.

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

5. Describe the Thugs' ward.

6. What is the result of the other wards having given the Thugs all their valuables at once?

7. What arrangement do the Thugs make for payment?

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

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

10. How does the Doctor's Wife meet the Dog of Tears?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Jose Saramago writes his parable without any proper names. How does affect he telling of the story and the readers attitude toward the characters. Cite three characters and describe an initial impression of the person based solely on his/her "name." Go on to describe the journey of that character through the story and how he/she does or does not confound expectations.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Choose one of the following topics to discuss in essay form:

1.) Why does the Doctor's Wife not reveal her ability to see while in quarantine? Do you consider this choice prudent or selfish? Does this choice to remain a covert observer give her more or less control over her environment?

2.) Why do you think it takes so long for the blind inmates in quarantine so long to organize themselves? Are they content being at the mercy of systems handed to them by the government and the Thugs? What Saramago saying about the weak nature of human groups?

3.) Why do you think it is so easy for the Thugs to take control of the food supply and one of the wards? Is it exclusively their superior arms? What tactics do they employ to divide and disorient their subjects in the other wards?

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