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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 Harvey find when he arrives home?

2. Why is a bearded man on Ocean Blvd calling out to others?

3. What does Harry do when he cannot get past the cracks in the road?

4. Where is Loretta?

5. Who are the Sinanians?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when Tim and Eileen try to buy a car and what is the implication?

2. What happens to Norm Lilly that demonstrates the continued deterioration of law and order?

3. Define the literary term "comic relief" and give an example of it from this section.

4. How does Alim demonstrate that he is re-thinking home robberies to ensure his gang's survival?

5. Describe a couple of Harry's "appointed rounds" and an evaluation of this man.

6. What is one repercussion of the "gloom and doom" message preached by Henry Armitage and others?

7. Who seems to take Armitage's type of preaching to heart in this section and what does he do?

8. What is Harvey's reaction to what he finds and do you understand his reaction?

9. What is Harry doing when the comet strikes and what is his response?

10. Most of the major characters are introduced in these first dozen or so chapters and much of what is written is about the protagonist(s), antagonist(s) and secondary characters. Define those three terms.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Soon after the comet hits, Eric goes back to the Burbank Jail where he finds that a jailer has released all the prisoners except Fred. Eric, citing the fact that no one deserved to die locked in a cell, kills the murderer. Discuss the following:

Do you believe Eric did the right thing in killing Fred?

What if it were a prisoner where the certainty of his guilt was not proved; then what should Eric do?

What do you think should happen in the prisons across the United States where those serving time have been found guilty in a court of law? Should they be released from certain death if they remain locked up?

Essay Topic 2

Harvey and Senator Jellison are two of the most influential characters in Lucifer's Hammer and have a major impact on the rest of the people in the story.

Part 1) Compare and contrast the characters of Harvey and the Senator. How are they the same? How are they different?

Part 2) What do you think would have happened if these two characters, Harvey and Senator Jellison, never existed in the story? Use events from the book where the direct influence of Harvey and Senator Jellison had an impact on others.

Part 3) Who is the better leader,Harvey and Senator Jellison? Cite several examples from the book to support your case.

Essay Topic 3

It seems that the people who will survive this comet strike are those who do not depend on military, police and rescue crews to save them; the hard truth is that those crews are going to be of little actual use. Discuss the following:

Analyze those who are surviving in the best way possible in the novel and relate how they are able to do so. How much do they depend upon "official" agencies for survival?

How often in real life do people depend upon their government at any level to "save" them? Is this a healthy attitude? Why or why not.

Do you think those in many countries, including the United States, have become too dependent on others to "save" them rather than their own self reliance?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,570 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample