View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did the FBI discover when they went to the Creedish colony to investigate the complaint?

2. Tender gives detailed instructions to his employers on the proper way to eat a certain food? What was that food?

3. Before Tender is sent out to work, who tells him about the "real world"?

4. After his first "date" with Fertility, Tender returns to his apartment and receives a call from a man. What does he say?

5. What is Tender doing when he receives a phone call from a girl in a loud dance club?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What was done to inspire the tenders and the biddies to get "perfect" before they left for the real world? What does Tender say about this?

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

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

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

6. What does Tender reveal is the practice for the tenders and biddies before they go out into the real world? What do they do in preparation?

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

8. What would the exchange be like if Tender saw another member of the Creedish Church in the outside world?

9. What does the caseworker usually ask Tender about, and how does he respond?

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the first part of the novel, Tender has a job as a house cleaner for a very odd couple. Discuss Tender's job and what it entails. What does Tender have to say about the personal nature the job? How did Tender get this job and why does he have so much training and knowledge in this area? Give a description of Tender's employers.

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

The author has an interesting approach to naming his characters. Discuss the significance of names in the novel. Include in your explanation the naming structure of the Creedish, the lack of names for the Creedish children, the lack of names for the caseworker and the agent and the irony of Fertility's name. What effect do these names, or lack thereof, have in the novel? Why did the author choose to name his characters in this manner?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,279 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample