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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 does Shimoda say he can always do if Richard offers to pay him for advice or to help him with his engine troubles?

2. What is the reason Richard gives for going to the movie? He wants to see _________.

3. Richard flees because he is unsure he will be __________ with Shimoda.

4. The book says that clouds do not know why they _____ as they do.

5. What always accompanies gifts, according to the book Richard was given by Shimoda?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Shimoda tell Richard to do in order to vaporize clouds?

2. Why do Shimoda's bosses ask him to leave the auto repair shop where he initially works?

3. Why does Richard find it difficult to look at Shimoda too closely?

4. What does Richard do in order to readjust to the loneliness of not having Shimoda around?

5. What are two names Shimoda admits to being representative of who he really is?

6. Describe the story the Messiah uses in order to answer the millworker's objection that the Master does not have to work.

7. Why hasn't returning to normal life been easy for Shimoda?

8. When Richard cannot vaporize clouds, what does he realize about the process?

9. What does Shimoda assure Richard about the training to be a Messiah?

10. What does Richard dream about before he is awakened at 3:00 A.M., happy about the dream?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Richard does have troubles with the idea of walking through walls, even though he has done a number of other things that have proven to him that it can be possible.

Part 1: What are some of the ways in which Richard has begun to break down his ideas of what is real and what is illusion?

Part 2: Why can't Richard make the jump from what he has done to walking through walls?

Part 3: Why doesn't Shimoda just give Richard an answer as to how to walk through walls?

Essay Topic 2

The two main characters in this story - Richard and Shimoda - are the central focus of the story, even though this is a story about the idea of illusions.

Part 1: Describe the character of Richard at the start of the story.

Part 2: Describe the character of Shimoda.

Part 3: How do each of the characters change during the course of the story?

Essay Topic 3

The idea of a Messiah being able to quit is a unique idea in the eyes of most readers.

Part 1: How is the term Messiah defined in this story?

Part 2: Why does Shimoda want to quit his position as a Messiah?

Part 3: How does Shimoda end up quitting his role as the Master or Messiah?

(see the answer keys)

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