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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. How are the winner and loser determined in the game Qfwfq and Pfwfp play?

2. What new game does Qfwfq suggest playing?

3. How does Qfwfq get Ayl to come with him?

4. When asked if the sign was visible, how does Qfwfq respond?

5. What scientist's calculations are referred to in the opening to the story?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

7. How is the sign like a name?

8. Describe Qfwfq's creation of a galaxy.

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Calvino's stories deal with communication between an individual and the world around him. Discuss communication in Calvino's stories.

1) In "The Light Years," how does the narrator communicate with others? What problems are there in communication?

2) In "The Form of Space," how does the narrator communicate with the other characters? What role does communication play in the story?

3) How well do the characters in COSMICOMICS communicate with the ones they love? How well, and in what way, do the characters communicate with their rivals?

4) In "A Sign in Space," how does Qfwfq communicate through his sign? What meaning and communication does Qfwfq receive from other signs? What is the role of communication in the story?

Essay Topic 2

Because the stories in COSMICOMICS discuss the natural world examined by science, they address mankind's relationship to the natural world. Discuss the relationship between man and the natural world in COSMICOMICS.

1) What is the relationship between the world of mankind and the natural world of the mollusk in "The Spiral"?

2) How is mankind related to the evolution of the universe? How does life on Earth contrast with the natural world before life developed?

3) How do natural forces like evolution and changes in the universe affect characters in the stories?

Essay Topic 3

Calvino's stories often center around signs and symbols. Discuss the role of signs and symbols in COSMICOMICS.

1) Discuss signs in "A Sign in Space." What is Qfwfq's first sign meant to represent? How does its meaning and function change over the course of the story? What does the story say about the nature of signs?

2) Discuss signs in "The Light-Years." How do the signs in "The Light-Years" compare to those in "A Sign in Space"? What is the function of signs? What problems do signs present?

3) What signs and symbols appear in other stories? How do the characters use signs and symbols and interpret them?

(see the answer keys)

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