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 does Em decide to call the First Year?

2. Why does Ish worry about being with Em at first?

3. How does Em demonstrate to Ish that children are necessary?

4. At one point, Ish considers suicide, but there is one particular reason he decides not to kill himself. What gives Ish the will to live?

5. Why do Em and Ish decide to keep Princess in the house during the infestation?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the Tribe see Ish?

2. What difference does Em make in Ish's life? What would have happened to Ish if Em had not been there?

3. What was different about the bodies that Ish saw in the dry, Arizona town?

4. Who is the "leader" of the group? Why?

5. Why does Jack think that some of the arrowhead materials are better than others?

6. How would you react if you were in Ish's place when he finds out what happened?

7. What is notable about how Ish acts on his trip home?

8. Does Ish put too much emphasis on above-average intelligence instead of other qualities?

9. Has Ish lived a happier life in spite of, or because of, the disaster?

10. What do you think of how Ish paid for the food he received from the family in Arkansas? Was it a fair exchange?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At the end of the book, Ish notices that, even though the rest of the city has burned, the university library is still intact. What is the significance of the library's survival?

Essay Topic 2

Based on class discussions and your own research, what factors in society might have influenced George R. Stewart to write Earth Abides? What are some basic points that the author is trying to get across? What could have prompted the author to feel the need to address a particular issue, and what are his conclusions on the issue?

Essay Topic 3

As the book progresses, the author puts a number of subtle hints into the text about how things are changing. For instance, at the end of the book, immediately before Ish dies, a messenger comes to report that the tribe is going to move. Why did the author choose this point in the story for the tribe to move? Do you think they only moved because of the fire? What could the events surrounding this final scene symbolize?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 868 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample