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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. Where do Bill and Josella go at the end of Chapter Four?

2. What example does Vorless use to show his point about belief?

3. What brings Bill into the alley where he finds a blind man and his captive?

4. What does the Colonel suggest the colony does immediately?

5. What caused Josella to have to leave her vehicle as she went to find the doctor?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the walking style of a triffid.

2. What are the potential uses of satellites, according to Bill?

3. Explain Bill's response to the argument at the gate between the sighted and the blind.

4. Explain why Bill feels a sense of relief at his new situation?

5. Describe the scene where the narrator first learns of the blindness that plagues mankind.

6. Do you agree with Bill's statement at the end of Chapter Six that man is lost without his ability to see? Why or why not?

7. Describe why Bill finds it difficult at first to break the law, even for food.

8. Explain what the landlord at the end of chapter 1 plans on doing, and how.

9. What is happening to society at the beginning of Chapter Four, and why?

10. Explain the irony of the blind man Bill finds in Chapter Three, who was blind before the comet.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the novel, there is a consistent struggle between doing what is morally right and doing what is necessary for survival. Choose one representation of this struggle from the following list and explain it in detail. What is the conflict? Why is there a conflict? How is one path more morally right than the other? Can the moral path not lead to survival in some way and the survival path not be made moralistically right? Why or why not? Be sure to be specific in relating the struggle back to the novel.

• Married men at University Tower being forced to mate and care for two blind women, as well.

• The forced care of ten blind persons by one sighted person as dictated by the Emergency Council.

• The choice of saving the blind at Tynsham even at the expense of the sighted.

Essay Topic 2

What is the function of the triffid in the novel? How does the author seem to imply the triffid was created? What does this symbolize in terms of the culture of Wyndham's time? What was he trying to say about biological tampering and the creation of government-born viruses and mutations? Why was this a point at the time the novel was written? Be sure to include details from the book to explain your answers and to justify your arguments.

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the novel, the narrator is forced to deal with figures in authority and to choose whether to believe what they say or not. Authority figures in the novel range from radio announcers to people in authoritative positions, such as the Colonel and Coker, and those who wish power over anything else, such as the Commander. Choose one situation in which Bill is forced to choose between following authority and ignoring authority. Explain the situation. What does this say about Bill's willingness to think for himself? About his willingness to blindly follow authority figures? Why is this important? In terms of authority in the novel, what is the author suggesting about military authority? How are these suggestions brought forth (i.e., which characters represent military authority). What does this say about Wyndham's own view of military authority?

(see the answer keys)

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