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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 did Tender start doing after he learned of the suicides of those in the Survivor Retention Program?

2. How does Tender communicate with his employers?

3. What does Tender do on the phone so Fertility won't recognize him as the guy from the cemetery?

4. What does Tender do with the flowers he collects at the cemetery?

5. What does Tender do after the pilot leaves the plane?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Tender asks Fertility about the guy that she met in the cemetery, what thoughts and observations does she share about him?

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 Tender feel about the caseworker's death?

4. What do Fertility and Tender do on their third date after they get off of the bus?

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

6. Why does Tender have a caseworker?

7. 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?

8. After the agent arranges to pick Tender up, what does Tender call Fertility from the plane to ask her and what is her response?

9. What does Fertility Hollis ask Tender when she calls his suicide hotline, and what reasons does she give for thinking that it is a good time for her to commit suicide?

10. Why does Tender steal the flowers from the cemetery and what does he say he is doing with them when people ask?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Tender seems to be lacking self-esteem throughout the novel, and he never really has much of his own life. Tender becomes a sort of puppet for the people in his life who manipulate him and use him for their own purposes. Who in the novel does Tender seem to be a "puppet" for? How is he treated by the people in his life, from his employers to Fertility to the agent to the Creedish Church? What effect does this have on this character?

Essay Topic 2

How do you feel about the character of Tender Branson in the novel "Survivor"? Do you sympathize with Tender, or do you think he is a pathetic character? Give your reasons in detail. Is it possible for this character to have changed or evolved had he found a way off of the airplane at the end of the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the novel, Tender gives bits and pieces of his past to the reader. The reader is able to piece together Tender's past and identify how he came to be the way that he is in the present. Tender, however, seems reluctant to share this information with the reader, much as he is with the caseworker. Discuss Tender's views on memories and his past. Is there a discrepancy between Tender's memories and what really happened in his past? Why? How does the reader discover this?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,287 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample