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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 is the surface of Alpha like?

2. How do Solarians seek freedom?

3. Is the planet Trevize correct in suspecting that Earth is radioactive?

4. What is Bliss afraid of, if she reveals the truth about Bander's death?

5. Why does Trevize tell Bliss that she is responsible for the child?

Short Essay Questions

1. What makes the rays of the sun deadly on Melpomenia?

2. What aspects of the environment on New Earth affect the people's culture?

3. Why is Bliss annoyed with Trevize for setting off the computer's alarm?

4. Why was Bliss able to successfully overpower Bander?

5. What criticism does Trevize have of the Solarian society?

6. Why does Trevize think Bander explains about Solaria to the travelers?

7. Where does Bander get power?

8. Why is Fallom uncomfortable on the island of New Earth?

9. What is Trevize's reasoning for continuing to search for information about Earth, now that he's found the planet and sees that it's radioactive?

10. Describe the meals on New Earth.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The societies depicted in Foundation and Earth adapt to their environments and also adapt their environments to their own needs.

1) Compare in what ways do the planets Trevize visits adapt to their environments, and in what ways they adapt the environments to their own needs.

2) Is it better in the novel to adapt to an environment or to try to change the environment? Are both necessary?

3) Is it dangerous to try to change one's environment? Can it be dangerous to try to adapt to an environment?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss predestination and choice in the novel.

1) Are characters' choices predestined by their psychology and environment?

2) The characters are unaware that they are being manipulated by Daneel. Do they still have choice or is free will an illusion?

3) In the novel, is the course of society as a whole predestined by the nature of man and his environment? In what ways is the course of society predestined or uncertain?

(see the answer keys)

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