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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. How much dry space is there on the raft?

2. What happened at the first house on whose door Beanpole knocked for food?

3. How long has the man lived on the island?

4. What do caps do to humans?

5. How long do the boys think the work will take?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why are Will, Henry, and Beanpole working so hard and at what are they working?

2. How do Will and Beanpole get food as they walk and what idea does Beanpole have about getting food? How did that work out for them?

3. How do the boys get away from the man?

4. What does Will not want to do for the games and how did he get to White Mountain?

5. What do the boys do when they wake up and what does Hans show them?

6. How did the boys sleep that night and how do they wake up?

7. Why does Moritz become concerned when they stop at a small village?

8. How did Will and his friends learn about White Mountain?

9. Who elects to stay below deck first and where do they stay?

10. Why do the boys want to win in their sporting event?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In THE CITY OF GOLD AND LEAD, there are other sentient beings besides humans, though they seem to have a greater status than humans. Discuss the following:

1. List and describe all the sentient, non-human beings.

2. Why do you think most of the the non-human, sentient beings are accorded greater status? Is it fair? Are they superior to human beings?

4. Why do you think Christopher creates a world where non-humans are of greater status?

Essay Topic 2

Will discovers that the atmosphere is difficult for humans and the air completely incompatible with human life. This causes humans to suffer and age quickly, making them unable to survive inside the city for very long, which might suggest why no one has ever come out of the Tripod cities. It also does not bode well for Will and Fritz who have just become slaves to alien Masters.

1. Slavery has been in existence since the earliest records of humans. Discuss the disadvantages of slavery to a society and to a culture as a whole.

2. Discuss the advantages of slavery to those in power and (possibly will need research) why slavery became a part of human civilizations.

3. Discuss the symbolism between the air the Tripods breath being incompatible with human life and the fact that the Tripods' presence on earth have created a world of slaves who are under absolute control. Illustrate your statements with details from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Whenever reading a science fiction or fantasy novel, one must become familiar with new terminology that explains concepts or technology that is not a part of the "real" world. In the case of THE CITY OF GOLD AND LEAD, much of the setting is familiar to the reader, though there are new ideas and terms to learn. Discuss the following:

1. Find five terms that are a part of THE CITY OF GOLD AND LEAD world that occur in the "real" world but are used differently in Will's world. Define the words as used in in THE CITY OF GOLD AND LEAD world and compare those five words as to how they are currently used in the American English language.

2. There are ways of learning about a new world or time when reading a science fiction or fantasy novel. Discuss the ways you were able to understand the world of THE CITY OF GOLD AND LEAD. Did you have to look up any words? What does it mean to learn a word through its context? Do you have to do that in THE CITY OF GOLD AND LEAD? What word(s)?

4. Were there any words you never really understood from THE CITY OF GOLD AND LEAD? Which ones?

(see the answer keys)

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