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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. Who is the woman saying goodbye to in the hospital on Gerberngasse?

2. According to the "14 May 1905" dream, why do children who have left the city curse their parents?

3. How does the world in the "15 May 1905" exist?

4. What does the European Union of 1979 depend upon?

5. How many dimensions does the man in the leather coat live in simultaneously?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Einstein's appearance at the patent office.

2. What are the benefits of living in a world in which cause and effect are erratic?

3. What happens one minute before the end of the world?

4. Why is there no communication between people of the present and people from the future? (16 April 1905)

5. What happens when there is only one day until the end of the world?

6. What do the untidy people of the 11 May 1905 world do in life?

7. Why are some people unhappy in the world where time exists as a circle?

8. Why do people in the 26 April 1905 dream choose to live in the mountains?

9. Describe how the world is described in the 19 April 1905 dream.

10. What happens every day for the townspeople of Berne? (28 April 1905)

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the Great Clock. What problems are associated with placing all trust in a manmade object? What are the benefits associated with placing all trust in a synthetic object? Would you choose to place you life in the motion of the clock or not? Why? Cite specific examples from the text to support your responses.

Essay Topic 2

Regard the novel as a whole. What did you find meaningful or meaningless? What gave you the most to think about and why? Did any part of the novel cause you to look at life and time and redefine the actions of your own life? What parts of the novel caused this re-defining of your own life? Why? Cite specific examples from the text to support your responses.

Essay Topic 3

Consider the representation of time and dreams in the novel. Can you find any links that actualize the parallels between dreams and time? Cite three examples from the text that show commonalities between dreams and time. Discuss these parallels in a comparison essay.

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