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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 have the priests discovered about increasing laws against women that force them to be confined at home?

2. What does the author tell the reader to do to mimic Flatland?

3. How did the Legislature finally stop individuals from trying to find the source of light in Flatland?

4. What does the editor say is his third reason for writing the preface?

5. What work are irregular shapes allowed to have?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What happens to irregular figures? Be sure to discuss all irregulars, including those with highly irregular figures.

3. What example does A. Square use to show his reasoning behind the need for regularity of shape?

4. What tools do inhabitants use to discern direction in Flatland?

5. Explain the shape of workmen and soldiers, women, the middle class, the professionals, and noblemen, or priests.

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

7. Summarize A. Square's explanation of Flatland.

8. Discuss at least two ways the inhabitants of Flatland attempt to alter natural evolution.

9. 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.

10. What happens to aristocratic children who fail exams, and as a result, what does the State feel should happen?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout Flatland, there are several examples of biases within the legal system, such as the killing of policemen witnessing the arrival of the Sphere while the higher class Squares are imprisoned. Discuss at least two examples of such biases. What do you think Abbott was trying to say about the relationship between class and justice? Do you believe his points are still valid today? Why or why not? Be sure to support your answer with both concepts from the book and your own experiences.

Essay Topic 2

List and describe the three dimensions discussed in the novel. Be sure to include as many details about each as possible.

Essay Topic 3

In Flatland, Abbott uses shapes as representations of individuals within his own society. Choose three shapes from Flatland, and discuss how they relate to the true groups such shapes represent. Be sure to include such concepts as class, intellectual pursuit, and power.

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