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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In Chapter 4, why does the narrator say he does not display the emotion he wants when the narrator finally realizes the truth of what Ishmael has been talking about?
(a) He says that the pleasure of seeing is intellectual for him, not emotional
(b) He says that he does not show his emotions
(c) He says that he is more flabbergasted than he could express
(d) He says that he still does not see

2. 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 has not been proved yet
(c) He says that it is an old hat
(d) He says that it is subject to much debate

3. Where does Ishmael say he was born?
(a) India
(b) Memphis
(c) West Africa
(d) Tibet.

4. What does the narrator say he expected when he answered the newspaper ad?
(a) A zoo
(b) A temple
(c) An atmospheric brownstone
(d) A library

5. Where does the narrator say the conquest narrative in Chapter 6 ends?
(a) With the mapping of DNA and the brain
(b) With rebellion and collapse
(c) With the conquest of outer space
(d) With the conquest of all knowledge

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What terms do Ishmael’s terms ‘Takers’ and ‘Leavers’ correspond to?

3. What role does Ishmael say the Fertile Crescent plays in the narrator’s story?

4. What does the narrator say his relationship with Nazi Germany is?

5. When does the narrator recognize Ishmael in Chapter 1?

Short Essay Questions

1. How would you characterize Ishmael’s tone with the narrator in general, as they talk regularly?

2. How does Ishmael describe the difference between living in Africa and living in a zoo?

3. How does Ishmael characterize the earth before the development of human culture?

4. How does Ishmael say Hitler captivated the German people?

5. What does Ishmael say man’s purpose is, in the narrator’s creation myth?

6. What does Ishmael say the narrator’s creation myth justifies?

7. What was the consequence of agriculture in the narrator’s account?

8. Describe the man who takes Ishmael from the menagerie.

9. What does the sign that the narrator notices behind the gorilla say, and what does the narrator interpret it to mean?

10. What is the narrator’s reaction when he finally recognizes his creation myth as a myth?

(see the answer keys)

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