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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. Why isn't Tak going to the party tonight?

2. Why can't everyone get more information concerning the flash of light and smoky grey sky?

3. How does Kidd try to help out after the fires have been set?

4. Who does Kidd wish would leave the party?

5. What new chaotic event has taken Bellona under siege?

Short Essay Questions

1. Suddenly, what does Kidd have trouble remembering?

2. Why does Kamp feel like it's finally time to leave Bellona?

3. Why does Kidd begin to doubt his own writing?

4. Why do Edward and Kidd both decide to join the scorpions?

5. Who starts many of the riots, and what do we learn about the scorpions because of this?

6. Why are the scorpions moving again?

7. When were most of Kidd's poems written?

8. Why is Kidd shocked that people want to know about his life?

9. What is true about the scorpions and other people in Bellona who do nothing with their time?

10. Although Kidd and Lanya seem to have known each other for a while, what side of her did he never see ?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

1. Discuss whether you think that foreshadowing can be used in a novel with a circular structure.

2. If you agree, how is this helpful in possibly understanding Delany's work?

3. Find three examples of foreshadowing in the novel.

Essay Topic 2

Describe the girl from the woods.

What does the girl from the woods and the beginning of the story symbolize to Kidd?

Furthermore, what does this symbolize as a story arc for several of Delany's books? (Extra Credit question).

Essay Topic 3

Delany's Dhalgren is thought to be one of the best Science Fiction books of the 1970s and 1980s. Consider what thematic elements classify this book as Science Fiction.

1. How does this book differ from others in the Science Fiction genre?

2. What classifies a book as Science Fiction? How does this book seem to fall short of some of these criteria?

(see the answer keys)

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