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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. Where does the narrator strike Lieutenant Fenimore as he falls on him?

2. What does the narrator describe the making of his shell as?

3. What does Qfwfq discover when he goes to spy out the reported dinosaurs?

4. For how long does Qfwfq say he was a dinosaur?

5. How far away is the galaxy where the narrator sees the sign?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Lll react when she first meets N'ba N'ga?

2. How does Qfwfq describe Dean (k)yK, on a typical day in the present?

3. Why does the narrator not want to show his desire to meet Ursula at the beginning of the story "The Form of Space"?

4. Describe N'ba N'ga's objections to living on land.

5. What does Qfwfq do with the body of the dinosaur the New Ones find?

6. Which bets does Qfwfq find most satisfying?

7. What second enormous hand sign does the narrator make, and why?

8. In what way, according to the narrator's description, does the existence of a shell bring about eyes and the ability to see?

9. In the end of the mollusk's story, in what way does he encounter the female mollusk?

10. Describe the problems with the advice N'ba N'ga gives his family.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

In COSMICOMICS, objects and things outside the self often reflect the self to the outside world. Discuss the role of objects and belongings in COSMICOMICS, and their relationship to identity and self.

1) What is the role of the characters' outer appearance in reflecting their inner selves? How do Ursula H'x and Lieutenant Fenimore's appearances reflect their personalities? How does the mollusk's shell become an embodiment of the mollusk's self?

2) How do objects the characters create and acquire reflect themselves? How does the sign in space become a representation of Qfwfq? How do the hydrogen atoms and the galaxies the boys form in "Games Without End" become representations of the boys, and part of their comparisons with each other?

Essay Topic 3

The stories in COSMICOMICS take place at different points of the universe, where distance and space play an important role. Discuss space and distance in COSMICOMICS.

1) What role does space and distance play in "All at One Point"? How does the confinement of a single point of space compare to the expanded universe and affect characters' perceptions and behaviors?

2) What role does space and distance play in "The Distance of the Moon" and "The Form of Space"? How does distance relate to love and attraction?

3) What role does space and distance play in "Games Without End?" What does the ending of the story say about space and distance?

(see the answer keys)

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