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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. Why does Kin become upset when the expedition gets underway?

2. During their trip to the sailor's homeland, what are the protagonists are attacked by?

3. What danger confronts the thing that attempts to visit Kin and the others?

4. What is Kin waiting for in the lounge in orbit around Kung?

5. One of the devices that Jago Jalo shows to Kin is capable of creating unlimited amounts of which of the following?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How did the strata machine chance human history?

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

4. What happens to the ship during its approach to the surface, and what is the result of this?

5. As they fly around the flat planet, what do Kin and the others observe and conclude about it?

6. What evidence does Jago produce to back up his claims about the flat planet?

7. What are Shand proteins, and how are they important to Silver?

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

9. Describe the steps Kin goes through to get to the ship after she arrives at Kung.

10. What are some of the technological resources that the group has at their disposal, and how will these things help them?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

After they crash on the flat planet, Kin and the others interact with its inhabitants in many places and in many different ways. These people, as rough analogues of real historical cultures, serve to illustrate various points that the author wishes to make about those civilizations.

Part 1) Describe the first meeting between the inhabitants of the flat planet and Kin and her companions. What are the results of this exchange? What impression do Kin and the other take away from this experience?

Part 2) Explain the other interactions the explorers have with the locals. How do these compare with their first interactions? Explain ways that the explorer's perceptions of the locals change as a result of later encounters.

Part 3) What impact do the explorers have on the local populations? Explain both immediate and long lasting effects.

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 computers of the creators of the flat planet are the only items left behind. They manage and maintain the planet as best they can without the help of a Disc Master. Once their nature is revealed at the end of the book, it is apparent that they have been influencing the characters since they arrived.

Part 1) Explain what the computers are, why the were created, and what function they serve.

Part 2) What are the computers' capabilities, and what can they not do?

Part 3) How could the computers have influenced and directed Kin and the others since the time of their arrival. Cite specific examples from the book and explain how the computers could have manipulated these events in each case.

(see the answer keys)

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