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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 did the impasse beast work at one time?

2. What are sacrificial beasts trendsetters in?

3. How do impasse beasts eat?

4. Which beasts have all the power in the section on sacrificial beasts?

5. What does Charley often do on the phone with the narrator?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does a joyous beast reproduce?

2. How does the sorrowful beast Cloud eventually die?

3. What kind of relationship does the narrator have with her professor?

4. What is unusual about the death of sacrificial beasts?

5. What is the nature of sacrificial beasts?

6. What kind of relationship does the narrator have with Lucia?

7. How does Ge describe the smile of a sorrowful beast?

8. Where does the narrator like to hang out, and what does she do there?

9. How does the unnamed narrator describe her own work?

10. How does Lefty "tame" the sorrowful beast?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why do you think Ge chose to write this novel from the first-person perspective of the unnamed narrator? How does this choice affect the reader's experience? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

How and why is this novel an example of the genre of magical realism? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

In what instances does Ge employ irony throughout the novel - perhaps especially in the naming of the classes of beasts themselves? Write an essay explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

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