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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. Where is the baby, VJ, born?

2. Who are the biological parents of the child born in the Prologue?

3. At the beginning of the novel, how long ago did David die?

4. Who does Marsha counsel at the beginning of Chapter 4?

5. Who does Marsha compare her patient to?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does VJ do after receiving the phone call, after his parents have left?

2. What does Victor see that he was doing on the day that the records show the missing files were deleted from his computer?

3. What does VJ's preschool teacher say about him?

4. Who meets the Frank family when they return to their home?

5. What does Victor do with the tissue samples he brings back from the hospital?

6. How does Victor Frank act during the delivery of the baby?

7. What is Victor's emotional reaction to the deleted files?

8. What interrupts Marsha and Victor at the end of Chapter 6?

9. What do the similarities between the three boys' births and unusual aptitudes imply?

10. What is Marsha's attitude toward what she discovers Victor has done?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the novel, appearance often runs counter to reality. Discuss appearance versus reality in the novel.

1) What does the author accomplish by writing about a villain who is a ten-year-old boy? How does it affect the tone of the novel and its emotional impact on the reader?

2) When, in the novel, are appearances different from reality? When do outward appearances reflect reality? Compare and contrast these two types of situations.

3) In the novel, how is truth discerned from false appearances? How difficult or easy is it to uncover the truth?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the genre of the novel.

1) In what ways is Mutation a thriller? How does it utilize elements of the thriller genre?

2) In what ways is Mutation a science fiction novel? How does it utilize elements of the science fiction genre?

3) What other genre elements, such as horror, are found in the novel? How do the elements of different genres work together, and what do they add to the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the structure of the novel.

1) Why does the author choose the particular scenes in the prologue and epilogue? How are they important to the story?

2) Why does the author tell the bulk of the novel over the course of a few days? How does the timeline affect the experience of reading the novel?

3) What are the moments of major revelation, crisis, and change in the novel? When do they occur, and how does the action build and resolve?

(see the answer keys)

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