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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 Kelvin say when Snow suggests Kelvin's "god" is mankind?

2. How does Kelvin react to his strange dreams?

3. What odd action does Kelvin notice Snow is performing?

4. What does the ocean do when it laps up against humans?

5. When does Snow say that the visitors first appeared?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Rheya sign her suicide note?

2. Why does Rheya lie to Kelvin about what she did during the night?

3. Describe a mimoid.

4. Describe the ocean as Kelvin sees it, after leaving the research station for the first time.

5. What metaphor does Kelvin use to describe trying to understand Solaris?

6. Why does Snow want to give Kelvin a job to do?

7. Why does Rheya choose the method she uses to try to kill herself?

8. Does Snow believe Kelvin when Kelvin says he loves Rheya?

9. What is Snow's response to Sartorius' new experiment?

10. Describe an extensor.

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

Discuss Kelvin's character and what Kelvin learns from his experiences on Solaris.

1) Does Kelvin grow and change throughout the story? How does his relationship with Rheya change?

2) Does Kelvin gain a deeper understanding of himself, the ocean, or mankind? If so, what understanding does he gain, and how does he gain it?

3) Why does Kelvin decide to stay on Solaris at the end of the novel? What does he hope to find or achieve on Solaris?

Essay Topic 3

At a sub-molecular level, Rheya is not human. Yet, on a normal level, Rheya is indistinguishable from a human being. Discuss Rheya's status as a person.

1) Is it possible that Rheya has no real "thought" process and is merely mimicking the behavior of a sentient creature? How would Kelvin know?

2) Should Rheya be treated as a person, with the rights and privileges of a human being? To what extent is she a person?

3) Could Rheya know if her thought process was fundamentally completely different from others', as long as her actions were human-like, and would it matter?

(see the answer keys)

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