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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 do families rise in standing?

2. What was this movement called?

3. Why does the author call the land he writes about Flatland?

4. To what class does the Law of Nature not always apply?

5. What is the editor's defense of the second objection?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does Hoffman mean when he calls the novel timeless in the Introduction?

3. Explain how sound is used to recognize lower shape classes, and why such a method cannot be used by the upper class.

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

5. What caused women to turn against the color bill?

6. What is the law of nature that helps protect the upper class? Which law of nature do Circles use to help stifle agitation?

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

8. What were the events surrounding the spread of desire to color Flatland, and how long did almost complete colorization take?

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

10. Summarize A. Square's example of how to imagine how inhabitants of Flatland see one another.

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

Throughout the novel, Circles use their power to control the lower classes. Discuss at least three examples of this abuse of power. What do you think Abbott was attempting to say about the aristocratic powers of his own time?

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 4, Abbott discusses the role of women in Flatland. He clearly uses the women in the novel to symbolize how women are treated in Victorian society. Discuss how Abbott portrays women in the novel, and compare it to both women in historic times, as well as in modern times. Has the treatment of women improved? If so, is the change universal? If not, what types of viewpoints have not changed? Do you feel such treatment is valid, or unjust? Why?

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