View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Victor's reaction to Mark Murray's condition?

2. What happens to Maurice that causes his family to call an ambulance?

3. What disability does Philip have?

4. What does Marsha compare VJ's psychiatric test results to?

5. Who delivers the baby, VJ?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does Marsha find difficult to accept about VJ's personality?

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

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

5. What might VJ's motivation be for how he performed during the race with Victor?

6. When did Victor stop keeping a journal about VJ and why?

7. How do Victor's test results on Mark and Maurice compare to VJ's test results?

8. What are Marsha's concerns about VJ?

9. What is Victor's response to Mark Murray's death?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Evaluate the ending of the novel.

1) Why does Victor choose to kill himself in the process of killing VJ? How is this decision appropriate or inappropriate?

2) Does VJ need to be killed? Is a violent death the best, or only, solution to the problem?

3) How is the manner of VJ's death appropriate to the story? What is the author trying to communicate through the manner of VJ's death?

4) What does the epilogue add to the novel? Why does the author introduce another super-intelligent child at the end of the book?

Essay Topic 2

The novel Mutation addresses the ethics of scientific experimentation. Discuss this aspect of the novel.

1) What types of questionable ethical decisions does Victor make? What are the consequences of these decisions? What is Victor's point of view about the morality of his experimentation?

2) How does VJ approach ethical and moral questions? Does he consider ethics? Why or why not? What are his considerations when deciding what the right thing to do is?

3) What role does ethics and morality play in science in general in the novel? Do any scientists consider ethical questions?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the settings of the novel.

1) Discuss the setting of the Chimera compound. How does the size of the compound affect the story? How does the security of the compound affect the story?

2) Discuss the setting of the clock tower and river. What do the clock tower and river add to the tone and mood of the story? How do they help the plot of the story to develop?

3) How do the time the novel is set in and the time period the novel was written in affect it? Will the novel continue to be relevant as time passes?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 743 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample