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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. According to the narrator of "What's Expected of Us," what is compatible with determinism?

2. According to the narrator of "Exhalation," how long will it take before their species died out?

3. How does Derek modify the physical appearance of his digients in Chapter 5 of "The Lifecycle of Software Objects"?

4. What irregularity occurs on the first day of the year in "Exhalation"?

5. According to the narrator of "The Lifecycle of Software Objects," a digient is a digital organism designed to look like what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are digients? What company is producing them, and who is hired to train them?

2. According to the narrator of "What's Expected of Us," how does the Predictor appear to support free will? How does it support determinism?

3. According to the narrator of "What's Expected of Us," on page 59, what happens after a person gets a Predictor?

4. What job offer does Ana receive in Chapter 7 of "The Lifecycle of Software Objects"? What reservations does she have? What makes her inclined to accept?

5. What advice does the narrator of "What's Expected of Us" offer the reader on page 60?

6. What companies announce a merger in Chapter 6 of "The Lifecycle of Software Objects"? How will the merger affect the digients?

7. How does SaruMech Toys help the digients grow?

8. What happens in “The Tale of the Weaver Who Stole from Himself”?

9. To whom does Fuwaad address his tale on page 3? What does he say about his story?

10. What is the public's reaction to the narrator's discovery in "Exhalation"? How does the narrator react?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How is the prism found in “Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom” symbolic of the themes presented throughout the entire collection? Choose three other stories and explain.

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the author’s choice to tell “The Great Silence” from the point of view of a parrot. How does viewing the action through the eyes of a parrot affect the story? How would the story be different if the story was told through a third-person narrator?

Essay Topic 3

The role of technology is central to the stories in Exhalation. Choose three stories and discuss the role technology plays in each. Is technology a positive or negative thing?

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