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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. Where did Mary meet Roy Hepburn?

2. Who said: "Progress has been much more general than retrogression."

3. Who does Hisako Hiroguchi perform her first intimate act with in Chapter 32?

4. How many times has the narrator been married?

5. When the Bahia sinks, who has the only beard on the island?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does James Wait tell Mary Hepburn to call him by his first name? By what name does Mary call James?

2. How does the narrator write this story?

3. When does Mary Hepburn begin her artificial insemination program? How old is she at the time?

4. How is Prince Richard murdered? Who kills him?

5. What does the cancellation of "the Nature Cruise of the Century" mean to everyone in the bus in front of the Hotel El Dorado?

6. In Book 2: Chapter 12, what does the narrator suggest as a means for Mary Hepburn to keep on living with the Captain for a little while longer?

7. After 10 years on the Island, how does the Captain change?

8. How many times has the narrator seen the blue tunnel in to the Afterlife? Where has he seen it appear?

9. How does Quezeda feed his brain's thirst for self-esteem and alcohol?

10. What is the story behind Selena MacIntosh's blindness?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the importance of the Afterlife to the novel. What does the Afterlife look like? Do the characters have a choice to enter into the Afterlife? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Make a case for or against the following statement: "Culture and society is just something that humans do because it is programmed in their brains." Use the novel for evidence to support your case.

Essay Topic 3

Give a full and complete profile of James Wait. Identify his physical appearance, his mental, emotional, and personality characteristics, and detail his past history. Use direct references from the novel and cite your references.

(see the answer keys)

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