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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 emotion does the narrator say he sees in Ishmael’s eyes, as he realizes that this change has been made in Chapter 9?
(a) Wary speculation
(b) Distrust
(c) Sadness
(d) Demonic joy

2. What does Ishmael ask the narrator to leave and come back with in Chapter 11?
(a) A legitimate reason for asking about the Leavers
(b) A plan for his future care
(c) An explanation for his ailments
(d) A genuine apology

3. Why does the narrator say he groans when Ishmael asks him how man became man?
(a) He feels that Ishmael is mocking him
(b) He says that questions of that sort intimidate him
(c) He says that he is tired of being the student who does not know things
(d) He says that he is impatient to know already

4. How does Ishmael characterize the gods in his description of their debates?
(a) As troublemakers
(b) As wise men
(c) As short-sighted people
(d) As squabblers

5. Why does the narrator have a hard time agreeing to Art Owens’ demands?
(a) He cannot put a price on his friendship with Ishmael
(b) He dislikes Art Owens
(c) He wants to be free of the whole business
(d) He does not have the money

Short Answer Questions

1. What kind of act does Ishmael say the agricultural revolution was?

2. What does Ishmael say ‘Eve’ means?

3. What is Art Owens’ negotiating style?

4. What assumption does Ishmael say the Takers must have made about the world in order to follow the laws they follow?

5. What does the narrator say he feels when he takes a few days off from his discussion with Ishmael in Chapter 8?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Ishmael say the Takers are fulfilling the story in which creation came to an end with them?

2. What reading does Ishmael give the Bible story of Cain and Abel?

3. What do Ishmael and the narrator agree on for a definition of ‘culture’?

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

5. What are the three things that Takers do that nothing else in nature does?

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

7. What surprising behavior does Ishmael describe for the narrator in an imaginary hospitable city?

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

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

10. What argument does the narrator offer for why the Takers’ culture is superior to the Leavers’?

(see the answer keys)

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