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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. What effect did the end of this method have on the classes?

2. What does the Equilateral triangle look like in Flatland?

3. What were Edwin Abbott's primary interests?

4. According to Hoffman, what is the goal of the novel?

5. Why does the State believe that aristocratic children who fail exams should be killed?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the use of color in the military of Flatland.

2. Explain how sight recognition is used in upper classes, and why such a method cannot be used for the lower class.

3. How is the temper of women useful in ridding society of the most brutal of the Isosceles class?

4. What are some of the characteristics of women in Chapter 5?

5. Why does Hoffman believe the development of the fourth dimension does not lessen the lessons of the book?

6. What is the author's primary defense against the idea that those in Flatland should recognize thickness, and infer a dimension?

7. What are the three rules created for women, in order to protect society? What are the rules in the strictest society?

8. What is Hoffman's belief about the relatability of the characters in the novel?

9. What was the Universal Color Bill, and why did women support it?

10. In Chapter 5, A. Square explains how the Law of Nature provides an alphabet of angles through the birth of irregular angles and shapes. Explain what is done with irregular specimens in Flatland. Be sure to include small angle shapes in your discussion.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Flatland, children are often punished as a result of their parent's wishes. Choose one of the following, and discuss what happens to these children in the novel. Is such treatment justified? Why or why not? Does modern society punish the children as a result of parental wishes? How?

1.) Young shapes are surgically altered to create more sides.

2.) Children who fail exams are shunned in society.

3.) Irregular children are used as specimens in schools.

Essay Topic 2

In Chapter 9, Abbott discusses the role of women in the near-passage of the Universal Color Bill. Discuss why women wanted the bill to pass, and why they would stand to benefit. Think of an event in history that women helped to shape, and compare the gains of the women in Flatland to the women in your example. Do the women stand to gain in the same ways? Do they differ? How?

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the novel, the idea of individuals using drastic measures to overcome their position in life is presented. Give at least two examples of this in the novel, and discuss in depth the process these individuals endure. Do you think such drastic measures are used in today's society? Do you believe such measures are justified?

(see the answer keys)

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