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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 do Mark, Maurice, and VJ's fathers all work?

2. Who does Victor ask to investigate the missing files?

3. What does Victor take back with him from the hospital?

4. How does VJ get to Victor's lab?

5. What is the dominant feature of Victor's company's facilities?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What is Victor's attitude toward the morality of his actions?

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

5. What are Marsha's concerns about VJ?

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

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

8. What does Victor think, when he sees the baby after he is born?

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

10. What is Victor's attitude toward Marsha?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Responsibility is an important aspect of Victor's relationship to VJ. Discuss responsibility in the novel.

1) What responsibilities does Victor have toward VJ, as his father? What additional responsibilities does Victor take on, by making the decision to genetically engineer VJ? How does Victor fulfill or shirk his responsibilities?

2) Is Victor's death at the end a consequence of his responsibility toward VJ as his creator?

3) As a parent, what are Marsha's responsibilities toward VJ? How does Marsha fulfill or shirk her responsibilities?

Essay Topic 2

VJ is described as evil by some of the characters in the novel. Discuss the novel's portrayal of evil.

1) What is the nature of evil in the novel, and how does the novel address the nature of evil? Is VJ truly evil, and how is he defined as evil?

2) Are Victor's actions evil? Is Victor an evil character? Is Victor more evil than VJ, or less? Why?

3) What other elements of evil, like the Colombian drug cartel, exist in the novel? In what ways are they evil? How does their evil compare to VJ.

Essay Topic 3

One important element in the novel is the nature of science. Discuss the nature of science as portrayed in the novel.

1) What is the purpose of science? What do the characters in the novel use science to accomplish?

2) Is science in itself good, bad, or neutral? How does the novel put a value on science?

3) How does the portrayal of science in the novel compare to the reality of science?

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