View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What does Earth's lack of color make difficult for Qfwfq?

3. What tools do the characters use to gather food from the moon?

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

5. What rule does Pfwfp invent for the game?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Describe Mrs. Ph(i)Nk_0.

3. Describe Qfwfq's creation of a galaxy.

4. When Qfwfq finally sees Ayl again, after the meteor flying overhead, how does he lure her away from her friends?

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

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

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

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

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

10. How does Mrs. Vhd Vhd act during her time trapped on the moon?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In COSMICOMICS, the characters exist over enormous periods of time, while astronomical events take place in the formation of the universe. Discuss the role of time in COSMICOMICS.

1) What role does time play in communication in "The Light-Years"? How does time affect the separation between individuals?

2) What is the role of time in "The Dinosaurs"? How does time change perception?

3) What is the effect of passing time on the characters? How does passing time affect older characters like Qfwfq's uncle in "The Aquatic Uncle," and his grandmother in "At Daybreak"?

4) What is the effect of astronomical lengths of time in the stories? How does the passage of astronomical lengths of time affect the betting in "How Much Shall We Bet?" and Qfwfq in "A Sign in Space"? How do the astronomical lengths of time in the novel affect the reader's understanding of Qfwfq?

Essay Topic 2

Throughout COSMICOMICS, characters generate ideas for the first time and do or conceive of things before the things themselves, or integral parts of those things, exist. Discuss these prototypes in COSMICOMICS.

1) How does Qfwfq think about the first sign? What is the significance of the sign being the "first"? How does this prototype differ from later signs?

2) How does the society in the point in "All at One Point" function as a prototype of later societies that will exist in the expanded universe?

3) How do the characters in "How Much Shall We Bet?" create a prototype of betting? How does betting change as the universe develops?

4) Why are there so many prototypes throughout COSMICOMICS? How are they related to each other and to the themes of the story collection?

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)

This section contains 997 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample