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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 is the character George's last name?

2. Where did Shura grow up?

3. Who is Christopher's stepmother?

4. What causes Alice to almost die in Chapter 17?

5. At what age did Shura receive a scholarship to Harvard?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Shura do upon earning his degree in Chapter 1?

2. When Alice and Sam leave her apartment in Chapter 17, where do they go?

3. What drug do Alice and Shura take in Chapter 26? What conversation does this lead to between them?

4. Describe Alice's actions at the Valentine's Day party in Chapter 19.

5. What drug does Shura focus on in Chapter 4? What are his observations of the drug?

6. What does Shura reveal to Alice about Ursula in Chapter 20? What is her response?

7. Describe Shura's notes following his experiment with Aleph-1 in Chapter 14.

8. With whom does Alice speak of Shura with in Chapter 23? What does she learn?

9. Where does Shura travel following his wife's death? What drug experience does he encounter there?

10. What leads up to Alice's near-death experience in Chapter 17?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast the drugs Aleph-1 and 2C-E. How are they similar in their chemistry? How do they differ? What are the differences in the qualitative comments of each?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss psilocybin and mescaline. How do these organic drugs differ from the syntheses created by the author? Describe the conversation between Alice and Shura regarding nature versus synthesis.

Essay Topic 3

Describe the terms "transcendence of thought," "stoned," and "turned-on." How do these and other words differ from one another? What is the importance of the glossary in Pihkal?

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