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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. What day does Chapter 9 take place?

2. Who do the police believe murdered Gephardt?

3. What does Marsha learn about VJ's school attendance from his principal?

4. Why does Victor find it hard to concentrate on his presentation about VJ's work?

5. Who does Victor try to prepare the presentation of VJ's work for?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Marsha's conversation with Philip at the beginning of Chapter 12 end?

2. What conclusion does Marsha form about the security employees at VJ's lab?

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

4. What does Victor finally admit to his wife in Chapter 9?

5. What do Victor and Marsha decide about VJ?

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

7. Why does VJ let his father out of imprisonment?

8. What information does Kaspwicz uncover hidden on Victor's home computer?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the idea in the novel of special privilege for the gifted.

1) Why does Victor believe that VJ should have special privileges? What special privileges does Victor want for VJ?

2) Why does Marsha disagree with Victor about special privileges for VJ, and to what extent? What are Marsha's arguments?

3) What does the author imply about the danger of special privileges for the gifted?

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

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.

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