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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 does Trevize say would happen if news of Bliss' presence got out?

2. What does the minister do after having sex with Trevize?

3. Why does Pelorat say thorns and thistles may be needed?

4. What is Pelorat's experience of Gaia like?

5. Why are Trevize, Pelorat, and Bliss arrested?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why would a Gaian naturally value truth?

2. What does Pelorat say the rain means, when the spaceship is departing?

3. At the beginning of the novel, what former decision does Trevize question?

4. How does Trevize feel when he first steps off his ship onto Aurora?

5. Why would a Gaian naturally value law?

6. When was Gaia first formed?

7. By trying to manipulate the border official, what is Trevize prioritizing above the law of society?

8. Why does Bliss think marriage is unnecessary for Gaians?

9. By allowing Trevize to land, what is the border official prioritizing above the law of society?

10. What possible reason does Trevize think the sensors might not detect life on the entry stations to Aurora, if there were someone guarding the planet?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the role of women and sexuality in the novel.

1) Compare the two sexual encounters Trevize has with the female representatives of societies he visits. Does Trevize use his sexuality to manipulate one or both of these women? Do the women use sexuality to manipulate him?

2) How are sexual mores different in the different cultures in the novel? How does this affect the role of women in those cultures?

3) Is Bliss a strong female character? How does her sexuality affect her role in the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the three types of conflict in the novels.

1) How does the novel show the conflict between man and nature? How is adaptation and control of the environment part of that conflict?

2) How does the novel show the conflict between man and man? How is competition between different cultures part of that conflict?

3) How does the novel show the conflict between man and himself? Discuss the conflicts felt by major characters including Trevize, Fallom, and Daneel.

Essay Topic 3

The novel depicts humanity in many different forms, and in the end of the novel, Fallom merges with Daneel, becoming a partial robot and partial human. Discuss what it means to be human in the novel.

1) In what ways are the different humans from different cultures depicted in the novel the same? Are their similarities more significant than their differences?

2) Why do different human cultures view each other separately and not as part of the same humanity?

3) Is Fallom still human when he merges with Daneel? Is Daneel, in some ways, human?

4) Through adaptation and genetic engineering, is it possible for a human race to change so much that they are no longer "human"? What does it mean to be human?

(see the answer keys)

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