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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. Where is Tyler taken?

2. What does Tyler do?

3. What does Jason think Wun Ngo Wen might have?

4. What does Jason tell Tyler?

5. Why does Jason want Tyler to inject him with the Martian drug?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens in the summer with the sky and why does Simon call Tyler? How does Tyler respond?

2. What does Simon tell Tyler about Diane when Tyler arrives at Condon's ranch?

3. Where do Diane and Tyler go at the end of the book? What was the ultimate purpose of the Spin membrane?

4. What does Molly say when Tyler confronts her?

5. Why is Jason dying?

6. What does Wun tell Tyler about a possible cure for Jason?

7. What does Simon say about his conflict between Diane and his beliefs?

8. What does Tyler wonder about Diane and how does she respond?

9. How does Tyler and Diane escape from Condon's ranch?

10. What does Tyler say might be the Hypotheticals motivation as far as the Spin goes?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When Spin first appears, the Chinese decide to "nuke" the structures at the two poles which seem to hold the membrane in place. Discuss the following:

Often, when something is not understood, it is attacked. There are other examples of this throughout Spin. Give some examples and analyze those examples to explain why you think the people behave as they do in Spin.

Enumerate and analyze examples of how the principle of attacking that which we do not understand happens in the "real" world.

Create a different model for dealing with that which is new and alien to a culture or one's individual way of life. Show how you might use your plan in specific instances in the book and/or "real" life.

Essay Topic 2

Chapter one opens in the present but then flashes back to the past. This technique is done with a literary device called a flashback. There are a number of literary devices in this novel. Discuss one of the following:

Define "flashback" and give examples of it in the novel. What is the purpose of a flashback? How effective is the use of flashbacks in this story? What is a weakness of using flashbacks? Why do you think the author choices to use flashbacks in this story so often? Would this story be very different if told completely in chronological order? Why or why not? How would it change the plot?

Define metaphor and give examples of it in the novel. What is the purpose of a metaphor? How effective is the use of metaphors in this story? What is a weakness of using metaphors? Would this story be very different if there were no metaphors? Why or why not? How would it change the plot?

Choose one literary device that occurs in Spin and answer the following questions:

What is the purpose of the literary device? How effective is the use of the literary device in this story? What is a weakness of using this literary device? Would this story be very different if there were no occurrences of this literary device? Why or why not? How would it change the plot?

Essay Topic 3

Tyler is writing a record of his past, which could be called a journal, memoir or autobiography. Discuss the following:

What is a journal? Is it the same as a memoir or autobiography? Why or why not.

What is gained by framing this story in the format of a memoir? What is lost by doing so?

Although Spin is a work of fiction, the author would have the readers "suspend their disbelief" and view it as an actual memoir describing actual events. If the reader were to assume the events described in Tyler's writings were actually true, how do you think the point of view of the narrator would bias the account?

(see the answer keys)

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