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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. 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

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

3. What is the literary term for Ishmael’s saying that he is cold?
(a) Denouement
(b) Prophecy
(c) Foreshadowing
(d) Falling action

4. What does Ishmael say is ironic about the story the Takers adopted about two thousand years ago?
(a) It had started as a joke
(b) The story did not originally have anything to do with them
(c) It had been created by their enemies
(d) It did not represent their beliefs

5. Why does the narrator say that he understands why Ishmael asked him to define the laws himself?
(a) Because he had to relinquish beliefs of his own, to see the laws
(b) Because Ishmael did not want him to be reliant upon him
(c) Because Ishmael wanted to get him accustomed to doing things for himself, for when Ishmael was no longer around
(d) Because if Ishmael had described them, he would not have thought them important

Short Answer Questions

1. What knowledge does Ishmael say the gods have that allows them to rule the world?

2. How does Ishmael describe the first farmers?

3. What does the law Ishmael believes the narartor is looking for in Chapter 8 prevent?

4. How does the narrator characterize the work, in Taker culture, of killing off nature?

5. What scenario does Ishmael introduce to test the narrator’s ideas about his imaginary culture?

Short Essay Questions

1. What major change has taken place in the dialogue in Chapter 9, and what has brought this change about?

2. How does Ishmael says man becomes man?

3. What does the narrator say he would do to figure out the fundamental law of the community Ishmael describes?

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

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

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

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

8. How does Ishmael characterize the experiment that is modern civilization?

9. How do Ishmael and the narrator say that culture changed when the agricultural revolution took place?

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

(see the answer keys)

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