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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. Who does Fertility say her boss will ask for if he calls "phone Tender"?

2. What does Fertility want to do for "cemetery Tender"?

3. What does Fertility Hollis ask Tender when she calls his suicide hotline?

4. Where does Tender's name come from?

5. What does Tender's caseworker think about the suspicious suicides of the remaining Creedish Church members?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who does Tender encounter while on the bus with Fertility? How does he react and what comment does Fertility make about the encounter later?

2. How does naming or rank work in the Creedish Church culture?

3. What method does Tender employ to teach the couple how to eat the lobster, and what does he discover as he is eating it?

4. How does Tender come to receive calls intended for a suicide prevention hotline and why does he continue to take them?

5. How does Tender feel about being diagnosed with illnesses by his caseworker and why?

6. What is happening as the novel opens?

7. What is the exchange between the pilot and Tender Branson before the pilot leaves the hijacked plane?

8. What is the discussion between Tender and his caseworker after he believes he has taken a call from the killer of the Creedish survivors? Why does she tell him not to worry?

9. What is Tender's strategy for his first "date" with Fertility and a possible relationship with her?

10. What did Tender Branson learn in school as a tender, and what rules is he supposed to follow in the outside world?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Do any of the events in "Survivor" echo real life situations in America? How is the American fascination with the Creedish Church in the novel similar with our views and thoughts about real life cults and religious sects in America? Is the author making a statement about American views of religion in "Survivor"? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

Themes are a vital part of the complete package of a novel, presenting unifying and recurrent ideas that tie a novel together and give the it meaning. The novel "Survivor" hits on many important themes. Discuss some of the themes of the novel including religion, loyalty, perception, and the relationship between power and sex.

Essay Topic 3

This novel has a unique structure. Instead of starting at chapter 1 and ascending chronologically, the novel starts at chapter 47 and chronologically descends. The page numbers also descend, as the novel starts on page 289. What is the purpose of structuring the novel in this fashion? What effect does this have on the novel and on Tender Branson's story?

(see the answer keys)

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