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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. The space suits that Kin and the others don give them what capability?

2. What does Kin do with Jago's forgery?

3. Who joins Kin Arad at the lounge?

4. What will happen to Silver if she goes without the crucial thing she needs from the dumbwaiter?

5. Jago Jalo believes that the flat Earth was created by which group?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the Company provide for humanity as a whole and, specifically, for its employees?

2. What are Kin's interests, outside of her work?

3. What does a watcher do, and what is required of a watcher?

4. What does each character do during the journey to the flat planet?

5. How do Kin and the others help the sailors who try to visit them?

6. What is the result of the attack on the group, and what do they learn about their attackers?

7. What do Kin and the others do with Jago after he dies? What do they plan to do with him in the future?

8. How are the explorers able to communicate with the inhabitants of the flat planet?

9. Who is Jago Jalo, and why does he seek out Kin Arad?

10. What things are unusual about the ship that Jago arranged for the expedition?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

There are many alien races presented in the book, and sometimes their differences are very important to the storyline.

Part 1) Enumerate the various alien races presented in the book, and describe their important characteristics.

Part 2) How do the historical races affect the story?

Part 3) How do the characteristics of the living races affect the story? Provide examples of times when non-human characters were driven more by their racial tendencies than their unique personalities.

Part 4) How and when do these characters overcome their predispositions for the better of themselves and those around them?

Essay Topic 2

At the end of the novel, it is revealed that the planet must be managed and maintained by the action of a human operator, the "Disc Master," who controls the machinery of the planet and manages its day to day activity. It is a position of huge responsibility that Kin accepts at the end of the story.

Part 1) Explain who the Disc Master is and why he is necessary for the planet's operation. Why would the planet's creators incorporate this feature into the planet's design?

Part 2) Describe what the Disc Master's usual duties might be on a day to day basis. What unusual types of situations would call for special care?

Part 3) Kin eventually accepts the role of Disc Master. Would this be an easy thing for most people to accept? What qualities would make a person a good candidate for becoming the Disc Master? Will Kin make a good Disc Master?

Essay Topic 3

The Company is an organization of enormous power. It literally has power over life and death, and wields enormous influence in human culture. Kin's loyalty to the Company affects significant parts of the story.

Part 1) Describe the Company, it's history, and its goals.

Part 2) How well has the Company succeeded in its goals? Have its aims changed at all from the time of its founding?

Part 3) Why is the Company so large and influential? How is the Company's power seen in the story?

Part 4) Explain some of the consequences, both positive and negative, of the Company's enormous influence. Has it changed human society for the better, or for worse?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 942 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample