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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 is the world actually seen by its residents in the "5 June 1905" dream?

2. What does the narrator want readers to "suppose" in the "9 June 1905" dream?

3. Why do some people, in the world described in the "29 May 1905" dream, refuse to look out their windows?

4. What is the young woman staring at in the end of the "15 June 1905" dream?"

5. What is the narrator's explanation of such a short life in the "3 June 1905" dream?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did the notion of the speed effect come to be known?

2. What is the biggest problem associated with living in the 20 May 1905 world?

3. Describe the cafe that stands on the corner of Kramgasse and Theaterplatz.

4. Describe the life of a "Now."

5. What has the young woman at no. 27 Viktoriastrasse missed in her life because of the sudden thrust into the future?

6. In the 22 May 1905 dream, what happens for those who have not seen a glimpse of their future yet?

7. Why does the young man in the 17 June 1905 dream leave his lover and tell her he cannot see her again?

8. In the 22 May 1905 dream, what happens for those who have seen a glimpse of their future?

9. How does the narrator describe a world without a future?

10. What options do people have when it comes to reading their Book of Life?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the formatting of the novel. Choose one of the following prompts discussing the formatting of the novel:

- Were you confused by the dates of the chapters and the meaning behind them?

- When did you realize the chapters were describing dreams and not realities for the novel?

- Why do you believe that readers are not given more information on Einstein himself about the movement of the novel?

- Do you think that this adds to the flow of the novel or hinders the flow of it?

- What relevance does Besso play in the novel?

- Why does the reader see more of his thoughts than Einstein's?

Cite specific examples from the text to support your responses.

Essay Topic 2

In the novel, do you believe the past is just as important as the present and future? Why? What evidence from the novel leads you to believe this? Cite specific examples from the text to support your responses.

Essay Topic 3

Given that this novel is written by someone other than Einstein, do you believe that the author was working out a theory of his own and used Einstein as a muse? What would support your standing? Cite specific examples from the text to support your responses.

(see the answer keys)

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