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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 is meant by "implicit egotism"?

2. What does the author say lies underneath one's exterior looks?

3. Whose brains must learn to make sense of visual input coming in?

4. What does each brain cell send to other cells?

5. How much of our brain is devoted to sight?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is it an advantage to be able to do things without the use of the conscious mind?

2. How is one's conscious mind limited and how does this make the mind more difficult to understand?

3. Why does Eagleman say it is not correct to change lanes by turning the wheel right and then straightening it out?

4. How can the brain see without eyes and what is one way this is possible?

5. How does Mike May adjust to his regained sight?

6. What does Eagleman say about the auditory sense?

7. What does Eagleman say the experiment with the photographs of women illustrates?

8. What is the simple experiment Eagleman asks the reader to perform?

9. What is seeing and what is the most important aspect of seeing?

10. What does Eagleman say about how vision works?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Our intuition tells us that we experience the world as it actually exists, Eagleman explains in chapter two. But we are actually unaware of most of what is happening. We can move an arm and be aware that it has moved, but we are unconscious of the flurry of neural impulses that caused the arm to move. Eagleman proposes an analogy that consciousness is like a newspaper, where complicated processes have been compressed into headlines. We read these "headlines" with our conscious minds while remaining unaware of the full "story."

1. Why do you think our intuition tells us the world we experience actually exists? Use examples from your own life and Incognito to support your answer.

2. Thinking back to yesterday, discuss ideas, actions or thoughts of which you may not have been aware. Use examples from your own life and Incognito to support your answer.

3. Do you think humans need to be more aware of the "behind the scenes" of any behavior or action? Why or why not? Use examples from your own life and Incognito to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the following:

1. What do you think are the characteristics of a successful work of non-fiction?

2. Analyze and discuss The Hand based upon the criteria you decide upon in #1 and judge if Incognito is a successful work of non-fiction/memoir.

3. Is The Hand a book you would recommend to a friend? Why or why not? Explain.

4. Can a non-fictional book be successful and yet many readers not enjoy it? Explain your response.

Essay Topic 3

There are a number of interesting questions raised by Incognito. Questions that Eagleman most likely want readers to consider and think through carefully. Discuss the following:

1. What does the term "author agenda" mean?

2. Name one idea/concept you think may have been a part of the Eagleman's agenda. Analyze that idea throughout the book and discuss Wilson's probable agenda concerning that idea.

2. Do you think writers who have an agenda for writing should point it out in a preface?

3. How often do you think fiction is written with a clear agenda in mind by the author?

4. Research the life of Eagleman and see if/where his life may have influenced his writing.

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