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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 name of Rafi’s sister?

2. To which of the following does Evie compare herself?

3. How many solar panels does Makatea boast?

4. To which of the following is the novel dedicated?

5. In what hospital does Rafi’s sister die?

Short Essay Questions

1. In applying for high school admission, what does Rafi note is his favorite place in the world?

2. In the novel, what is the primary importance of phosphates?

3. Why is Rafi advanced a grade level?

4. Why is Rafi sent to a magnet school?

5. How does Todd learn to program chess games?

6. Why is Evie asked about continental drift in her admissions appeal?

7. Why does Tamatoa not sleep at night?

8. What makes Bart a good study partner for Evie while they are in college together?

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

10. Why does Ina tell Hariti the story of Ta’aroa?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

To what other writer’s work in your experience does Powers’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

In the novel, some characters are given but one name, while others are given first- and surnames, and still others are accorded names and titles. What significance, if any, accrues to patterns of naming in the novel? If no significance accrues, what purpose might be served by the patterns of naming in the novel? How does Playground bear as much out?

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