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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 ‘Eve’ means?
2. What does Ishmael say the Takers repudiated when they split from the Leavers?
3. What is the literary term for Ishmael’s saying that he is cold?
4. What does the narrator tell Ishmael he wants to know in Chapter 11?
5. What method does the narrator say he would use, to deduce the laws of the group Ishmael describes in Chapter 7?
Short Essay Questions
1. The narrator says that he wants to know the Leavers’ story so he can stop the destruction of the Takers’ story. Why does Ishmael say this is insufficient?
2. What objection does Ishmael make to the narrator’s questions at the beginning of Chapter 11?
3. What major change has taken place in the dialogue in Chapter 9, and what has brought this change about?
4. How does Ishmael say the Takers are fulfilling the story in which creation came to an end with them?
5. How do Ishmael and the narrator say that culture changed when the agricultural revolution took place?
6. What surprising behavior does Ishmael describe for the narrator in an imaginary hospitable city?
7. What do Ishmael and the narrator agree on for a definition of ‘culture’?
8. How does Ishmael characterize the debate among the gods about an equitable way to take care of the animals?
9. How does Ishmael characterize the work of competing for food in Taker culture?
10. What reading does Ishmael give the Bible story of Cain and Abel?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
In what ways is Ishmael relevant to contemporary readers? What contemporary issues are in play in the book, and how would the book contribute to contemporary discussion? Cite specific discussions from contemporary sources, and cite specific instances from the book that describe its contemporary relevance.
Essay Topic 2
Evaluate your own reading of Ishmael—did you resist it, or were you compelled by the story? What does your reading tell you about yourself and your interests? Use specific examples from the book to describe yourself as a reader.
Essay Topic 3
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?
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This section contains 967 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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