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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 unintentionally ironic comment does Edgar make about his father on page 22?

2. What was Rolph especially eager to see in the surface world?

3. What does Brian's ghoul costume indicate that his character did before his death?

4. Why did Rolph never tell Edgar what he knew about the Egress Spout?

5. The Monitors proudly tell Brian that the community's system is "distinguished by its rigor, discipline," and what (28)?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Brian realizes that there are no Visitors coming, what people does he think about, and what does he realize about them?

2. After finding out what Brian knows, what choice do the Monitors give him, and what decision does he make?

3. When Brian goes to look for Amy in Dining, what does he think when he sees Jim, and why?

4. When Brian is looking for Amy in Dining, who finds Brian, and what do they want from him?

5. Why do the people in Brian's community find it essential to believe that Visitors will arrive any day?

6. What does Mr. Regis say during the funeral for the workers who have been killed?

7. What does Rolph suggest are some possible reasons for their community being put underground?

8. What important information does Brian learn from Rolph's letter?

9. What puzzles Brian about the air, water, electricity, and food that they use in the underground community?

10. What causes Brian to realize that he is in love with Amy?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Consider this quote from page 27:

Honestly, I am filled with hope. What new life might we begin, free of the bothersome prospect of being Visited? Dedicated to some new task, some fresh way of being? Who might we become, sans roles, free to redecorate and un-theme this spacious home of ours? What might come to interest us? Toward what might we redirect our considerable, until now misspent, energy?

Write an essay in which you consider how this quote characterizes Brian, given the information he has already shared about the "Slough." Use textual evidence to support your assertions.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay that evaluates what "politeness" means to Brian's society and then defends a claim about its significance in the story. Support your ideas with evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 3

On pages 33 and 34, Brian says that his intention is to copy and distribute the letters and his own story "so that all may know the truth and be moved to ask, perhaps in some quiet moment, Is this world that we have made (which, for the soundest of reasons, we made, along the way, quite harsh) a world in which lovers may thrive?" Write an essay that explores the meaning of this quote within the context of the story as a whole. Support your claims with evidence from the text.

(see the answer keys)

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