View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Kempsey, why wasn't the Vorga able to rescue Foyle from the Nomad?

2. Who are the white-armored people who fill the streets in New York after the bombing?

3. Where does the costume ball at the opening of Chapter 10 take place?

4. How does Robin discover who Y'ang-Yoevil really is?

5. What kind of costume does Foyle wear after he leaves the Borghese Palace in Rome?

Short Essay Questions

1. What truth does Sheffield reveal to Foyle at the Four Mile Circus?

2. What does Robin do regarding Foyle at the opening of Chapter 12, and what secret of hers is made known?

3. What is the nature of the discussion in the Star Chamber in Chapter 14?

4. What is the nature of the surgery Foyle had after the recovery of the treasure from the Nomad?

5. Describe Olivia Presteign.

6. Describe Analogue and how and why it is used.

7. What is Y'ang-Yeovil's role on the Spanish Steps?

8. How does Foyle find out about Lindsey Joyce, and what does he learn about Joyce at the end of Chapter 12?

9. What is the nature of the small slugs Foyle sent around the world as revealed in Chapter 15?

10. Describe, in a couple of sentences, the nature of the first Solar War as explained in Chapter 8.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Fourmyle's Four Mile Circus is encamped in what is known as Old St. Pat's, what was once St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. Discuss the irony of this group taking up residence in what was once a church, being mindful of what the Circus represents. Explain why the Circus is such an attraction to the people in the culture. Is it an escape? An ideal to be emulated? Evidence of the culture's depravity? Or something else entirely?

Essay Topic 2

In the last two chapters of the book, author Bester basically throws convention to the wind and attempts to describe what happens with Foyle in hyperbolic language and graphic representations of what is fundamentally indescribable. Discuss Bester's use of these tools, how effective you felt they were, and share an alternate way of communicating the same truths without using the same conventions Bester did.

Essay Topic 3

In the last chapter of the book, Bester attempts something close to transcendence. The reader is faced with the questions: What does all this mean? What ultimately happened to Foyle? What will potentially happen to mankind? Is Foyle the "messiah? Answer these questions in detail, with the understanding that your answers are very subjective.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 742 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample