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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 Rheya wearing when Kelvin sees her?

2. What is the name of the space ship Kelvin takes from Earth to Solaris?

3. When Kelvin wakes, what is Rheya doing?

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

5. Before the discovery of Solaris, why did scientists think a planet like Solaris could never contain life?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do the scientists see when the cover falls off Sartorius' video phone?

2. What is Snow's reaction to Kelvin's description of Rheya as a woman he once loved who killed herself?

3. Describe Snow.

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

5. Why aren't Berton's experiences related in the Supplement that Gibarian's note directs Kelvin to?

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

7. Describe the person Kelvin is shocked to see go into Gibarian's room.

8. Explain the term "no appreciable relation to reality" as the president of the committee uses it to describe Berton's report.

9. How punctual does Kelvin say he is?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss how Solaris' ocean can be seen as a metaphor for God.

1) Solaris' ocean creates a semblance of human beings, even bringing the dead back to life, at least on one level. In what ways can Solaris' creative power be compared to a god?

2) Solaris' ocean is beyond human understanding. In what ways can Solaris' unknowability be compared to a god?

3) Is Solaris' ocean in any way fundamentally different from a god?

Essay Topic 2

Solaris is written in the first person point of view, from Kelvin's perspective. Discuss point of view in Solaris.

1) Kelvin enters the Solaris research in the middle of the action, when Gibarian is already dead. Why does the author choose to begin with Kelvin's arrival into an already ongoing situation?

2) The first person point of view restricts the reader's knowledge to Kelvin's thoughts and perception. Why does the author choose this point of view?

3) Why does the author focus on Kelvin as a character and Kelvin's interaction with his visitor, to the exclusion of the other visitors?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the genre of the novel Solaris.

1) How does Solaris utilize the science fiction genre? Why does the author choose a space setting, and how does he utilize science and technology to communicate his themes and ideas?

2) In what ways is Solaris a mystery or psychological thriller? What elements of the mystery/thriller genre does the author use?

3) What elements of the horror/ghost story genre does Solaris use? Is the story of Solaris a horrifying one?

(see the answer keys)

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