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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. Which of the following epithets is applied to humanity?

2. Which of the following does the novel juxtapose with rapture?

3. Over which desert is the station noted to pass?

4. To which of the following is cosmic radiation compared?

5. Where does Anton find a lump?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do station crew retrieve orbital litter?

2. What problem does Roman identify in America and the rest of the world?

3. Why had Nell’s husband sent her food?

4. Why is the southern tip of Spain reflective?

5. What does Nell find when vacuuming the air vents?

6. What is the station crew’s reaction to the realization that they are, at root, data for future missions?

7. Why does Anton bring crackers and salt to the station?

8. Why does Anton conceal the lump he finds on himself?

9. How does Anton realize his marriage is loveless?

10. Why do the station crew disregard the signs restricting toilet use on the station?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The novel makes a point of noting many, many physical locations as the space station passes over them. What effect does that geographic litany have on the text, and how does that effect manifest? That is, what is the novel doing when it lists so many locations, and how is it doing so?

Essay Topic 2

To what other writer’s work in your experience does Harvey’s seem most similar? What makes the writers similar? What differentiates them? Overall, which do you regard as doing better at the craft of writing, and why?

Essay Topic 3

A lack of formal sectional division in the novel obliges a fairly arbitrary breakdown of the text for purposes of study and discussion. How might the novel be sectioned off other than it currently is? Why might those divisions be appropriate, based on the text and its contexts of composition and reception?

(see the answer keys)

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