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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. Who does Marsha wake early in the morning at the beginning of Chapter 12?

2. Who threatens Victor at the secret lab?

3. What does Marsha discover with the dead body she finds?

4. What does VJ show his parents in the second secret room of his lab?

5. What does Victor receive when he arrives at the office at the beginning of the day in Chapter 9?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did VJ want to appear to be less intelligent?

2. What does Marsha learn about Richie Blakemore?

3. What happens to Victor when he's searching the clock tower?

4. How did Janice feel about VJ?

5. What do the police do about the dead body Marsha finds when she arrives home?

6. What does Victor think about as he drives to work at the beginning of Chapter 9?

7. What seems to have prompted VJ to stop going to daycare?

8. How much of the secret lab does Victor see?

9. How do VJ and Victor interact, when they go to VJ's lab in Chapter 13?

10. What does Victor realize about the threatening attacks on the Frank home by Gephardt?

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

Discuss the nature of knowledge in the novel.

1) How do scientists in the novel make discoveries? What are the limitations of their knowledge about what they are doing and the consequences of their actions?

2) What can and cannot be known in the novel? What different types of knowledge are there?

3) What should and should not be known in the novel? Are certain types of knowledge dangerous?

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?

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