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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. What does Kin ask Marco to do with the demon?

2. The winged demon has which of the following capabilities?

3. When they land on an island after leaving the sailor's people, what does Kin attempt to do?

4. The flying statue that takes Kin out of the place she hides in has the form of which of the following?

5. Where does Kin hide from her captors?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do the locals intend to do with Kin, and how is this prevented?

2. What do Kin and Marco resolve to do until Shand proteins can be found for Silver?

3. What does the group discover at the ship's crash-site?

4. How does the group confirm that they are being followed?

5. What does the group do with the winged demon?

6. Where does the Djinnee come from, and what does he do?

7. How are the explorers greeted when they reach the sailors' homeland?

8. Whom do Kin and the others meet in the desert? What is the result of this meeting?

9. How is Kin rescued, and what do the characters think about the manner or her rescue?

10. What is the group being followed by, and how is it unusual?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Exploration is a major theme of the novel. Alongside creation, it is presented as one of the defining characteristics of intelligence species. Exploration initiates and ends the story.

Part 1) Outline the importance of exploration in the novel. In what ways does it affect the storyline?

Part 2) Which characters are affected by the drive for exploration? Does it have a positive or negative impact on them?

Part 3) How is the drive for exploration presented as an important feature of intelligent life?

Part 4) How does exploration in this story relate to the concept of creation?

Essay Topic 2

"The Hero's Journey," a collection of archetypal story elements, was suggested by Joseph Campbell as an explanatory tool for understanding storytelling. The structure of this novel demonstrates several of Campbell's archetypes.

Part 1) Explain Campbell's "Hero's Journey." Could the author have been aware of this concept, and does it appear to have informed his writing?

Part 2) Discuss ways in which elements of the plot correspond to stages from the hero's journey. Explain each stage that applies and cite the section from the book that corresponds to it, giving examples and a full explanation of the correspondence.

Part 3) Discuss stages of the hero's journey that are not present in the novel. Are these omissions demanded by the plot? Would the story have been significantly enhanced by the addition of any particular archetype?

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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