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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 does Ishmael say, in Chapter 5, is man’s purpose on the earth?

2. What does Ishmael elicit from the narrator in Chapter 4 regarding his creation myth?

3. What does Ishmael say the world was created for, in the narrator’s story in Chapter 4?

4. Why does the narrator have a hard time identifying the creation myth of his culture?

5. What does the narrator say grew where his idealism had died?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What are the definitions Ishmael lays out for the narrator?

4. Why does Walter Sokolow adopt Ishmael?

5. What is the premise that is being played out in the narrator’s creation myth, according to Ishmael?

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

7. How does the narrator react when Ishmael finally gets him to see that his culture’s narrative is just a myth—and what is the significance of the narrator’s response?

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

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

10. What is the narrator’s creation myth?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an evaluative review of Ishmael. What is this book’s place in culture? What are its uses? What are its limitations?

Essay Topic 2

How do you think times have changed since Daniel Quinn published Ishmael in 1992? Is Ishmael’s story still applicable? Have Ishmael’s teachings been learned anywhere? Where are people advocating Ishmael’s views, and what influence are they having?

Essay Topic 3

What is the outcome of the dialogue between Ishmael and the narrator? What influence has the book had on American or western culture? What influence does it have in your reading? How might this book change the story you are enacting?

(see the answer keys)

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