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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. At least how many guns does each household in the neighborhood have?

2. What do the garden thieves take from the Hsu and Talcott homes?

3. Where does Lauren's dad usually hold his services?

4. Who becomes pregnant in the neighborhood?

5. What is Reverend Olamina's sermon about after Keith returns home?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Cory accuse her husband of after Keith runs away?

2. Why is there sometimes problems with the relationship between Rev. Olamina and Jay Garfield?

3. What are the "rules" of the group that Lauren shares with Grayson?

4. Why does Lauren think it is a mistake to take Emery and Tori with them?

5. Why do Aura Moss and Michael Talcott leave their classes?

6. What does Lauren think happens if Olivar succeeds?

7. Why is Lauren convinced that her father is dead?

8. What does Zahra say she prefers life with Richard to life with her mother?

9. What is the difference between people in Olivar and people in company towns of the past?

10. What does Lauren tell Joanne about to give her an idea of how bad society becomes?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain the Biblical parable of the sower and describe how it is an allegory for what happens in the novel.

a. How does the message of the Parable relate to Lauren's efforts to convert others to her Earthseed philosophy?

b. Why do you think Butler chooses this as the title for the book?

c. In general, how is organized religion portrayed in the lives of characters in the book? Does it seem to have more of a negative or positive influence on people's lives?

Essay Topic 2

Although Lauren is very young, she seems much older and more mature than even many of the adults around her. Explain some of the ways in which she seems older than her years, based on examples from the text. Do you think that this believable? What do you think causes Lauren to be so mature?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the government in America at the time of the story. What problems does the government face and how is it trying to solve those problems? How does the crisis facing the government affect Lauren's actions and the actions of the other characters?

(see the answer keys)

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