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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When does Ishmael say that human history began?
(a) 3 million years ago
(b) 30 thousand years ago
(c) 3 thousand years ago
(d) 300 thousand years ago

2. What does Ishmael say is the premise of the narrator’s creation myth?
(a) That man belongs in the midst, not on the top of the community of life
(b) That the world is made for man
(c) That man is an exile in his consciousness
(d) That the world is a mystery no one understands

3. What does the narrator say is his first impression of Ishmael?
(a) Curiosity
(b) Comfort
(c) Terror
(d) Tenderness

4. Why does the narrator say he answers the newspaper ad?
(a) To see what he can learn
(b) To make sure that it is just a scam
(c) To be part of the crowd
(d) To see who else shows up

5. In Chapter 6, Ishmael says that the narrator’s account of man’s progress stopped being applicable—how long ago?
(a) 150-200 years
(b) 30-40 years
(c) 100-120 years
(d) 80-90 years

6. What does Ishmael say he wants, in Chapter 4, when the narrator finally realizes the truth of what Ishmael has been talking about?
(a) Humility
(b) Terror
(c) Astonishment
(d) Gratitude

7. What does Ishmael say is the consequence of thinking that the world was made for us?
(a) That we owe someone an enormous debt of gratitude
(b) That we have to take care of it
(c) That we can do what we want with it
(d) That we have to find its proper owners

8. What does Ishmael say man’s importance must be, in the eyes of the gods, in the narrator’s creation myth?
(a) Certain men must be more important than others
(b) Man must be insignificant
(c) Man must be a creature of enormous importance
(d) Man must attain value as he understands the gods’ laws

9. How does the narrator characterize the 1960s?
(a) As a period of hopeless despair
(b) As a the time when culture was completely lost
(c) As the time of the children’s revolt
(d) As the great cultural leap forward

10. What does Ishmael say the world was created for, in the narrator’s story in Chapter 4?
(a) Man’s use
(b) The fulfillment of each of its creatures
(c) No purpose at all
(d) The fulfillment of divine ideas

11. In the narrator’s account of his culture, in Chapter 5, what was the problem early man had to solve?
(a) If he stayed in one place, he would be subject to wars
(b) If he wanted to farm, he would have to kill off the hunter-gatherers
(c) If he stayed in one place, he would exhaust his food supply
(d) If he traded with other cultures, he would lose his women

12. 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”?
(a) People screwed it up
(b) Man was always going to be able to imagine more than he could get for himself
(c) Wealth was never going to be distributed equitably
(d) The natural world would not support all of men’s plans

13. In Chapter 6, what does Ishmael say is unobtainable in the narrator’s culture?
(a) Freedom from guilt
(b) Certain knowledge about how to live
(c) An orientation to natural laws
(d) An understanding of the goal of human culture

14. What does Ishmael say is the purpose of Mother Culture’s story?
(a) To weed out the weak from the strong
(b) To teach the listener how to fulfill him or herself
(c) To put the listener to sleep
(d) To give the listener power

15. When does Ishmael say he was truly born?
(a) When he learned to read
(b) When he realized that he had a name
(c) When he realized that he was a gorilla
(d) When he realized that his name was not his

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the office building like, where the narrator answers the newspaper ad?

2. In Chapter 5, what perspective does Ishmael say the narrator should look at the world from?

3. What distinction does Ishmael point out between Leaver and Taker cultures?

4. How does Ishmael characterize man’s progress, once he discovered agriculture?

5. What does the narrator say, in Chapter 6, is the problem with his culture’s story?

(see the answer keys)

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