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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 did Carson fall into?

2. What adjective is used to describe Carson's lab?

3. The continent was covered by what color stripes?

4. How many matches does Carson light in total?

5. In what year were the remnants of the first flying machine discovered?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Howard Carson's life described before the discovery of the Motel of the Mysteries?

2. What covered the majority of North America?

3. When was there an interest rekindled in North America? Why?

4. What happened to Carson as he stood surveying the site?

5. When did the excavation begin? How long did it last? Who helped?

6. How long was it between the discovery and the beginning of the excavation? Was it successful?

7. What did Harriet say in reference to the opening of the door at Tomb #26?

8. Once the discovery of the excavation site was made known word began to spread all over the world. Who came to visit the site?

9. When did the great catastrophe occur? What caused it?

10. What did German scholar Heinrich von Hooligan discover? What was the alleged purpose of the items(s)?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Guido Michelin and Currant Bunliffe both set out to find fragments of writing that could be attributed to the Yanks.

What was the purpose of the search? What kind of information might be contained in the writing fragments? What could the new civilization learn from the old one? Why was there such a lapse between searches for the fragments? Do you think Bunliffe ever found anything? What might have happened to Bunliffe? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

The excavators and workers in the story seem to have many ideas regarding the dead, from the body's eventual destination to the storage of internal organs. Examine the text to learn about the modern civilization's ideas about the ancient dead. Do any of the ideas seem feasible? Why do you think cultures are so fascinated with burial? Compare and contrast current options for burial to those of ancient times, e.g., Egyptians.

Essay Topic 3

Howard Carson is painted as a ne'er do well in the beginning of the book. How did Carson make a living? What was the man's level of ambition? Why did Carson decide it was time to change his life? How did he propose to make changes? Were those goals accomplished? Did the effort to change cause Carson to land at the Motel of the Mysteries? How did Carson handle the discovery of the motel? Did Carson see the discovery as his destiny? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

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