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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. What new name for the Leavers do Ishmael and the narrator arrive at in their discussion in Chapter 12?
(a) Those who know good and evil
(b) Those who live in the gods’ hands
(c) Those who follow the old ways
(d) Those who invent themselves

2. What does Ishmael say ‘Adam’ means?
(a) Mankind
(b) The first man
(c) Life
(d) Breath

3. In Chapter 12, how does Ishmael say man became man?
(a) By reassessing tradition every generation
(b) By following his intuitions
(c) By taking his fate upon himself
(d) By living in the hands of the gods

4. What is Art Owens’ negotiating style?
(a) He is amenable to make sacrifices in order to find an agreeable proposal
(b) He is somewhat flexible
(c) He does not budge at all
(d) He is hostile and suspicious, and only gives ground with a fight

5. According to Ishmael, which is NOT a ‘trick’ the gods played on the Takers?
(a) Neglecting to write down their laws for the benefit of men
(b) Not exempting man from the laws that govern populations of animals and plants.
(c) Failing to create man after a special fashion unique in nature
(d) Refusing to put the world in the center of the solar system and universe

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Ishmael say people think about prehistory, before the agricultural revolution?

2. Why does the narrator say that he understands why Ishmael asked him to define the laws himself?

3. What does Ishmael say is ironic about the story the Takers adopted about two thousand years ago?

4. What method does the narrator say he would use, to deduce the laws of the group Ishmael describes in Chapter 7?

5. What subsequent interruption kept the narrator from returning for another few days in Chapter 10?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Ishmael say is the benefit of what he calls the peace-keeping law?

2. What are the gods wary of, in letting Adam have the knowledge of good and evil?

3. What is man’s role and responsibility as Ishmael describes it from the Leavers’ perspective?

4. How does Ishmael say the Takers explain their divergence from the peace-keeping law that has kept nature harmonious for three million years?

5. What does the narrator say is the consequence of the Takers’ culture?

6. What does the narrator say is his chief objection to the Leavers’ lifestyle?

7. How does Ishmael characterize the work of competing for food in Taker culture?

8. Where has Ishmael gone when the narrator shows up again at the office building, and how does the narrator reconnect with him?

9. How does Ishmael says man becomes man?

10. How does Ishmael characterize the debate among the gods about an equitable way to take care of the animals?

(see the answer keys)

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