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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 does Rheya's blood look like to Kelvin at the cellular level?

2. How did Rheya die?

3. What does Kelvin think of Berton's account?

4. In Gibarian's room, what does Kelvin discover the scientists have been directing at the ocean?

5. What makes Solaris's orbit stable?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Kelvin periodically check to reassure himself that the research station's air circulatory system is working?

2. What does Kelvin feel as he goes into his room on the space station?

3. Describe the view of Solaris that Kelvin first sees from his room.

4. What reason does Kelvin give for his suggestion about the physical composition of the visitors?

5. Why does Kelvin blame himself for Rheya's death?

6. Describe Snow.

7. Why is Kelvin surprised by his greeting when he approaches the research station?

8. What does Snow say that mankind is seeking in outer space?

9. What is Kelvin wearing when he arrives on the research station?

10. Who do the records say took The Little Apocrypha out of the library?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The ocean of Solaris is an active force in moving the story forward, and yet that ocean is incomprehensible to humans.

1) How does the author make Solaris' ocean a character in the novel while retaining its unknowability?

2) Are the reader's expectations of consciousness reflected in the way the reader interprets the story? Does the reader "read into" the ocean, and see sentience where there may be none?

Essay Topic 2

In Solaris, Kelvin is faced with his most deeply held guilt and desire. Similarly, the other characters are faced with repressed desires and obsessions, ones that horrify them when they're brought into reality.

1) What does the novel say about mankind's knowledge of himself and his own desires?

2) Are people's deepest desires always confounded with guilt, shame, or other negative emotions?

2) Why can't the scientists, as Kelvin suggests at one point, learn to live openly with their visitors and adjust to the situation over time?

Essay Topic 3

Kelvin has complex emotions about the original Rheya, and these emotions are further complicated by the appearance of a new, duplicate Rheya. Kelvin first destroys one Rheya in a panic, and then wants to save the next. What does Kelvin really want? Discuss Kelvin's ambivalent feelings toward Rheya.

1) How do Kelvin's feelings of guilt and love for the first Rheya affect his attitude to the duplicate Rheyas?

2) Is it possible for Kelvin to distinguish his feelings for the Rheya of Solaris from his feelings for and memories of the original Rheya?

3) On a fundamental level, does Kelvin want Rheya to be there, or does he not want her to be there?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 750 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample