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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 Qfwfq aware when new hydrogen atoms appear?

2. What does Qfwfq do when he locates Ayl?

3. How does G'd(w)^n feel about darkness?

4. What motivation does Qfwfq attribute to Kgwgk for destroying his sign?

5. What happens to the temperature when light first appears?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Pfwfp disguise new atoms as old ones?

2. How does Pfwfp start acting strangely, as the game between him and Qfwfq goes on?

3. Why does Qfwfq say that the sign is more important than its function of marking a place?

4. Describe the visualization that all the people in the point have of Mrs. Ph(i)nK_0 that leads to the Big Bang.

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

6. What does Ayl do when she comes from her hiding place with Qfwfq and sees the colors?

7. Why does Qfwfq fear making a third true sign?

8. What outstanding physical characteristics does Mr. Pber^t Pber^d have?

9. What skills does the Deaf One have that make it easiest for him to climb up to the moon?

10. What happens when Qfwfq comes again to the place where his first sign was, and finds five signs there?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Calvino's stories parallel each other to a greater or lesser degree. Discuss the parallels between stories in COSMICOMICS.

1) What parallels are there between "The Spiral," "The Light-Years," and "A Sign in Space"? How are these three stories' portrayals of signs and creation different and similar?

2) What parallels are there between "At Daybreak," "Without Colors," and "The Aquatic Uncle"? How are these three stories' portrayals of change and human reactions to change different and similar?

3) What parallels are there between "How Much Shall We Bet?" and "Games Without End"? How are these two stories' portrayals of rivalry different and similar?

4) What other parallels are there between the stories in COSMICOMICS? What role do parallels between the stories play in the development of Calvino's themes?

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

In several of the stories, a family forms the central group of characters. Discuss the portrayal and role of family in COSMICOMICS.

1) Discuss the family in "At Daybreak." What role does each family member play in the family as a whole? How does being a family affect the characters' interactions?

2) How are the communities in "The Distance of the Moon" and "All at One Point" similar to and different from families?

3) What role does family play in "The Aquatic Uncle"? How does the familial relationship between Qfwfq and his uncle affect the story?

4) What role does family play in "The Dinosaurs"? How does Fern-flower's relationship to her brother affect the story? What is the import of Qfwfq fathering a son?

(see the answer keys)

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