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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 dream did Daniel have the night before his public recitation of pi?

2. What job does Daniel interview for and not receive?

3. What type of language does Daniel find most confusing because of his Asperger's?

4. What conversational tactic has Daniel used over the years that does not work well within his relationship with Neil?

5. How did Neil help Daniel memorize the pi digits?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Daniel prepare himself for the airplane flight to California?

2. When Daniel goes on an interview for a library position, why does he most likely not get the job?

3. Why did Daniel end up walking up the steep hill of Volunteer Ave. on his commute to the Volunteer Center?

4. How is Daniel's method of memorizing the digits of pi different from most other people's methods?

5. Describe Daniel's state of mind as he recited pi for an audience for more than five hours.

6. Why did Daniel's travels and meetings during the making of Brainman and his appearances on television give him such a feeling of elation?

7. Why did the involvement in a documentary about his story make Daniel think it was the opportunity of a lifetime?

8. Scientists are beginning to question whether Daniel's ability with language extends to other forms of language, such as sign language. What happens when he is tested for this?

9. Why was Daniel unhappy and somewhat anxious when the producers first revealed to him their choice of language he would learn?

10. When Daniel returns to his family's new home after a year in Lithuania, why must he readjust to living there?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Pi is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. Daniel (as well as many others) is fascinated with pi. It is an infinite, irrational number. Daniel spends a chapter in the book explaining pi and his relationship with it. Why do you think this fascinates him? Does he see pi in the same way that he experiences other numbers and words? Why, besides raising money for epilepsy research, does Daniel learn pi to some many decimal places at all?

Essay Topic 2

Daniel is diagnosed with epilepsy as a young child. How has this affected him throughout his life? Did it have any effect on his family? Do you believe his grandfather's diagnosis was a contributing factor to his diagnosis? Do you think the epilepsy helped cause his savant abilities or vice versa?

Essay Topic 3

Consider Daniel's imaginary friend, Anne.

1) Why did he need to make her and others up in his mind?

2) How real does it seem that they appear to be to him?

3) Why does he have Anne leave him and say she is dying?

(see the answer keys)

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