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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 does Qfwfq use to stick together the creation he makes in his secret storeroom?

2. How does Qfwfq feel at first, after realizing he is trapped on the moon?

3. What do the characters use to try to get Qfwfq and Mrs. Vhd Vhd down from the moon after they are trapped there?

4. When matter starts to condense, who does the family have to pull out of the newly formed matter?

5. How many signs were created before Qfwfq's sign?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Qfwfq say he could not make an accurate guess as to how many beings their were at the point before the Big Bang?

2. What does Granny think is happening when light first appears?

3. What traps Ayl at the end of the story?

4. In the story, one of the characters accidentally floats up into the air. Describe how that character comes back down.

5. How does Qfwfq describe the new atoms that are formed?

6. What happens to the aunts and uncles when they leave?

7. What does Qfwfq find that Pfwfp is doing when he follows his playmate?

8. When Qfwfq's father says they are hitting something, why doesn't Qfwfq understand what he means?

9. What happens to the family and the planet after G'd(w)^n leaves?

10. What happens to Mrs. Ph(i)nK_0 at the end of the story?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout COSMICOMICS, Qfwfq and the unnamed narrator have rivalries with other characters. Discuss rivalry in COSMICOMICS.

1) The narrator has rivalries for love in "The Form of Space," "The Aquatic Uncle," and "The Distance of the Moon." How does love relate to rivalry? What causes the rivalries in these stories, and how are rivalries based on competing love unique?

2) The narrator has rivalries based on competition in "A Sign in Space," "Games without End," and "How Much Shall We Bet?" How does competition relate to rivalry? What causes the rivalries in these stories? How is competition resolved?

3) How are rivalries perpetuated in Calvino's stories?

Essay Topic 2

COSMICOMICS deals with the divisions that exist between the self and others, and the relationship of one's inner self to the society of others outside one's self. Discuss the dichotomy between self and others in COSMICOMICS.

1) How are the characters in "All at One Point" separate from each other and yet unified? What role does the separation between self and others have in quibbling and pettiness? What role does the unification of separate individuals play in the expansion of the point at the end of the story?

2) In "Games without End," how is Pfwfp a reflection of Qfwfq? In what other stories are "others" a reflection of the narrator's self, and to what extent?

3) How are relatives, who share history and genetic makeup, a part of the characters in the story and in some ways an extension of the self?

Essay Topic 3

Throughout COSMICOMICS, Qfwfq feels judged by others, and characters enter into petty squabbles with each other. Discuss judgment throughout COSMICOMICS.

1) In "A Sign in Space," why does Qfwfq feel judged? What reasons does he have to feel that others are judging him? How does he judge himself?

2) In "All at One Point," how do the characters judge and criticize each other? Why is Mrs. Ph(i)NK_0 immune to this judgmental behavior?

3) How do Qfwfq and his uncle judge each other in "The Aquatic Uncle"? Where do their opinions of each other stem from?

4) In "The Light-Years," why does the narrator feel judged? How does he judge himself? How does his perception of being judged affect his actions and his relationship with others?

(see the answer keys)

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