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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 shape is space in the story "Games without End"?

2. What do Ayl and her friends play ball with?

3. How does Qfwfq feel about the colors that fill the Earth?

4. Where does Qfwfq see his sister again?

5. What rule does Pfwfp invent for the game?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Qfwfq try to help Mrs. Vhd Vhd get back down to Earth, after the moon begins behaving strangely?

2. How does the Deaf One act while the moon is further away from the Earth?

3. Describe Mrs. Ph(i)Nk_0.

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

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

6. What are Ayl and Qfwfq's attitudes toward difference and sameness?

7. What does Qfwfq try to communicate with Ayl when they first meet?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many of the stories in COSMICOMICS deal with change and stasis, and the characters' reactions to changes in their world. Discuss change and stasis in COSMICOMICS.

1) Which of the stories in COSMICOMICS are set at moments of change in the development of the universe? How do the characters respond to change?

2) Are there patterns to how different types of characters respond to change in COSMICOMICS? How do women respond differently than men? How do older people respond differently to younger people?

3) What is the role of stasis in COSMICOMICS? In what way are the end of "Games without End" and the parallel falls in "The Form of Space" representations of stasis, in contrast to change represented in other stories?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Each story in COSMICOMICS is based on a snippet of information about science. Discuss the role of science in Calvino's stories.

1) How does the author choose the science information to base the stories on? Why are some of the science ideas and theories ones that have been disproved?

2) What role does science play in the stories themselves? Why does Calvino make his stories fantastical, and what relationship does the fantastical have to science?

3) What is Calvino's attitude toward science in COSMICOMICS?

(see the answer keys)

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