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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 demon claims that is was knocked out of the sky by _________.

2. What does Silver say about Marco while she is talking with Kin during their first night among the sailor's people?

3. What is Marco's opinion about the demon?

4. For what does the man whom the characters meet in the desert want to trade?

5. With regards to Silver's impending madness, what course of action does Kin initially suggest?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How do Kin's feelings about the Company begin to change soon after the dumbwaiter is destroyed?

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

4. Why does Kin refuse to believe that the Company could have created the flat planet?

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

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

7. How is the dumbwaiter destroyed?

8. What are the man on the flying carpet's real motivations?

9. What happens to Kin and the others at the end of this section?

10. Describe the creature put into the cell next to Kin. What does the group eventually learn and speculate about it?

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

The concept of loyalty is important in the story. It affects Kin most of all, since she has immense loyalty to the Company and has reasons to begin questioning them.

Part 1) What is the nature of loyalty, and how is it seen in this book? How do the characters develop loyalty?

Part 2) How and why do characters betray or question their loyalty?

Part 3) What important roles does loyalty play in the storyline? What does it illustrate about the characters that it affects? How would the book be different and potentially less interesting if these complex loyalties were not present, or did not develop?

Essay Topic 3

The raven is a large unknown in the novel. Its nature is never fully explained. It is certainly not a normal raven, since it can burn through a metal cage, appear to be intelligent, and can keep up with Kin and the others as they fly across the flat planet. It could easily have been built by the creators of the flat planet, since it is not obviously more advanced than other robotic constructions that the explorers discover on the planet. However, it was given as a "gift" to Jago on the distant Kung, making its origins mysterious.

Part 1) What is known about the raven? How does it join the group, and what are its apparent motives? What are its known or probable capabilities?

Part 2) Explore the mission of the raven. At the end of the novel, was that mission a failure or a success?

Part 3) Speculate as to what group created the raven, and why.

Part 4) How is the raven connected to Kin and the others, and what will its creators do with it now?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,045 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample