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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. How does VJ get to Victor's lab?

2. What personal characteristic do Mark, Maurice, and VJ have in common?

3. How large is are the facilities of Victor's company?

4. Where does Victor go after VJ's medical tests?

5. What unusual demand did Victor make during prenatal care?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Victor's attitude toward Marsha?

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

3. What does Marsha tell Victor about his race with VJ, and how does Victor react?

4. What does NGF do, and what role does Cephaloclor play?

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

6. What does VJ do at Victor's computer?

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

8. What is the company's conflict with George Gephardt?

9. Compare Marsha and Victor's attitudes toward their son.

10. What does William Hurst argue with Victor about?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

One of the questions at the heart of the novel is the value of genetic engineering. What are the costs and rewards of genetic engineering?

1) What could Victor's discovery of NFG do for society as a whole? What benefits could it bring, and what problems could it cause?

2) What consequences of genetic engineering does the novel focus on? Is the author's treatment of the topic of genetic engineering balanced and objective? What is the author's opinion?

Essay Topic 3

The novel is a cautionary tale about scientific research and attempts to portray a story that might happen in the near future. How plausible is the story the novel tells?

1) How plausible is Victor's discovery and his ability to genetically modify human beings? How plausible is what Victor does with that discovery, by implanting modified embryos in three women?

2) How plausible is VJ's story? Are his personality problems plausible outcomes of genetic engineering? Are the secrets he keeps, including his secret lab and connections with Colombian drug dealers, plausible?

3) How plausible is Marsha's awakening realizations about VJ's problems at the age of 10? How plausible are her investigations and what she learns about her son?

4) How does the plausibility affect your experience of the novel and the communication of the author's message?

(see the answer keys)

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