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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 occupation did Charles's father have?

2. In Chapter 13, Charles reflects that he is a momma's boy who learned what from his mother?

3. Phil is described by the narrator as easygoing, but he thinks he's what?

4. What does Phil start to do before he crashes in Chapter 7?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What is revealed about Universe 31 in the excerpt "reality, in relation to"?

2. How does the narrator describe Universe 31 at night? How big is his time capsule?

3. Who does the narrator describe in Chapter 7? How does he communicate with this person?

4. How is the narrator's existence metaphorical for contemporary society?

5. How is the style of the book established through the table of contents and opening quotes?

6. How does the narrator relate to TAMMY? What is her character like?

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

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

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

10. What is described in the excerpt "unfinished nature of"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze and discuss the theory of "chronodiegetics" and the relationship between time and literature in the novel. How is literary narrative symbolized?

Essay Topic 2

Describe and discuss the settings of Universe 31 and TM-31. What is the size of the universe? How big is Charles's ship?

Essay Topic 3

Define and discuss literary allusion in the narrative. From what film or literature does the character of Luke Skywalker arise?

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