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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 does the narrator know about females of his species?

2. What begins to happen to Qfwfq and Dean (k)yK's bets after humanity appears on the scene?

3. What does N'ba N'ga say his relatives get from living on land?

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

5. How do the New Ones subsist?

Short Essay Questions

1. What gives Qfwfq an advantage over Dean (k)yK when they bet during the early evolution of the universe?

2. Which bets does Qfwfq find most satisfying?

3. What explanation does the narrator give for caring about the opinion of whoever wrote the sign he first sees?

4. What causes the narrator's suspicions about the female he encounters?

5. Describe Lieutenant Fenimore.

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

7. What is the attitude of the New Ones to the Dinosaurs, when Qfwfq first encounters the New Ones after his period of isolation?

8. Why does the narrator get an enormous sign of a hand with a pointing finger?

9. How does Zahn first react to Qfwfq?

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

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

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

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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