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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. The capital city of Universe 31 is how big in relation to the size of New York City?

2. An excerpt from "How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe", called "size of," describes Universe 31 as being smaller than what?

3. TM-31 is about the size of what?

4. Charles's mother gives him a wrapped box from where in Chapter 13?

5. Who is credited in the beginning of the book for the quote, "Everything we are is at every moment alive in us"?

Short Essay Questions

1. Discuss the metaphor for time travel and its relation to the narrator's father in Chapter 3. What does the symbolism say about the narrator's father?

2. What problem does the narrator discover with his ship in Chapter 10?

3. What robotic services are described in the excerpt "convenience, particular sadness of"?

4. How does Chapter 3 begin? What is significant about time travel in this chapter?

5. How is the size of Universe 31 described in the novel?

6. What leads to Charles's outburst in Chapter 15? What does he discover on the ship?

7. What does the theme park in Loop City symbolize?

8. What is significant about the narrator's memory of his father in Chapter 12?

9. How is nostalgia defined in the excerpt "nostalgia, underlying cosmological explanation for"?

10. What does the narrator say his mother taught him in Chapter 13? What is significant about this?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the theme of emotional expression in the novel. How does Charles differ from TAMMY in his emotional responses? How does his mother's reaction in Chapter 23 reflect this theme?

Essay Topic 2

Describe and discuss foreshadowing and symbolism in Chapter 10. What does the narrator seeing himself outside the time capsule foreshadow?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the character of "The Woman My Mother Should Have Been." How does this character differ from Charles's real mother?

(see the answer keys)

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