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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. 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”?

2. How long ago did the Takers’ story come into existence?

3. What is the story the narrator tells in Chapter 3?

4. What does Ishmael say he wants, in Chapter 4, when the narrator finally realizes the truth of what Ishmael has been talking about?

5. From whose perspective does Ishmael tell a rival creation story in Chapter 4?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What is the ‘but’ Ishmael says is part of the narrator’s culture’s myth, and where does the ‘but’ come from?

3. What is the rival creation story Ishmael tells the narrator?

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

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

6. How does the narrator characterize the problems with the narrator’s culture?

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

8. What does Ishmael say will be the result, once the narrator learns to hear Mother Culture’s voice?

9. Describe the narrator’s first encounter with Ishmael.

10. What correlation does Ishmael draw between Nazi Germany and the narrator’s culture?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Who is the audience for Ishmael? What is the ideal reader for Ishmael likely to think about the book’s main topics? How does this book try to affect the reader? What is it trying to teach him or her, or get him or her to do?

Essay Topic 2

Where is the climax of this book? Are there different climaxes? What questions does each climax resolve? What questions does each climax leave unanswered?

Essay Topic 3

What kind of compromise is possible between people who see things Ishmael’s way, and people who exemplify ‘Taker’ culture? Is compromise possible?

(see the answer keys)

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