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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 Rafi’s father’s name?

2. How does the novel gloss the term “l’Oublié”?

3. With which chess strategy does Rafi display facility?

4. About which of the following is Evie quizzed in her admissions appeal?

5. How does the novel gloss the term “gati”?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is described as the major perk of the mayoral office on Makatea?

2. Why does Ina pray in Tahitian?

3. What game does Rafi play at the Taylor library?

4. Why is Didier selected to be mayor?

5. Why is the title “President of French Polynesia” a lie in the novel?

6. What is the irony of phosphate mining on Makatea?

7. What does Ina recall about leatherback turtles?

8. Why is Rafi sent to a magnet school?

9. Why does the young Evie fear nitrogen intoxication?

10. Why is Rafi advanced a grade level?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

A lack of formal sectional division in the novel obliges a fairly arbitrary breakdown of the text for purposes of study and discussion. On what grounds might the current divisions be in place? Why and how are they appropriate to the text?

Essay Topic 2

Consider the cosmogyny expressed in the first two sections of the novel. What does it explain in your world? What does it fail to explain? How?

Essay Topic 3

Explicate the significance of the name of any one character in the text.

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