View a FREE sample

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 11.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Ishmael characterize the notion that agriculture started in the Fertile Crescent?
(a) He says that it is undisputed
(b) He says that it is an old hat
(c) He says that it has not been proved yet
(d) He says that it is subject to much debate

2. From whose perspective does Ishmael tell a rival creation story in Chapter 4?
(a) An indigenous person in Asia
(b) A gorilla
(c) Someone from another planet
(d) A jellyfish

3. How does Ishmael propose, in Chapter 7, to learn how they can find out for themselves how to live?
(a) By having mystical experiences
(b) By talking to prophets
(c) By looking at what is actually there
(d) By consulting books

4. What pressure does the narrator say he feels to act out his culture’s stories?
(a) He says that his neighbors exclude him if he expressed doubt about the value of the culture
(b) He says that he has to go to admit his belief in court
(c) He says that his parents have threatened to disown him if he does not follow in their footsteps
(d) He says that if he doesn’t work, he won’t eat

5. What is the narrator’s first strategy for reconnecting to Ishmael in Chapter 10?
(a) Apologizing to him
(b) Driving around looking
(c) Posting an ad
(d) Finding Mrs. Sokolow

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the narrator say is new about Ishmael’s expression at the beginning of Chapter 7?

2. In Chapter 11, how does Ishmael define culture?

3. What is the ‘but’ Ishmael sees in the narrator’s story: “The world was made for man to conquer, and turn into a paradise--except for what”?

4. When does Ishmael say the event he put at 8,000 B.C. on his timeline ended?

5. How long ago did the Leavers’ story come into existence?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 396 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample