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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 does Bill make the solution to his hunger even more acceptable?

2. What is Josella's opinion of the future?

3. How does Bill solve the hunger issue to his standards?

4. What does Bill try to do to the sighted leader of the drunks?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain Vorless' opinion on the new role of men and women in society.

2. Explain the difference between Josella's view of triffids and Bill's. Why are they do drastically different?

3. Give a brief explanation of the various speculations pertaining to the coming of the triffids.

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

5. Following the witness of a couple committing suicide, Bill admits to himself that he must 'grow a hide'. Explain his meaning.

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

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

8. 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?

9. Explain why the Colonel and the others want to leave London?

10. Describe the different aspects of society Bill and Josella say goodbye to in Chapter Five.

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

Throughout the novel, only one child, Susan, is really examined in depth. Her reactions to the horrors that surround her seem muted in that she seems to be curious, but not afraid. Do you think this is representative of a child after a crisis? Why or why not? Do you think her curiosity outweighs her fear? Why is this true for children more than adults? What do you think the result would have been had Bill not located Susan? What do you think Susan's reactions say about the resiliency of children?

Essay Topic 3

There is a constant theme in the novel that even the best intentions can result in horrific results. Choose one example of this from the following list. Explain what happened in the situation, what the original intention was, why the result occurred, what could have been done to avoid the result, and whether or not the original intention was good, despite the results.

• Coker's kidnapping of sighted individuals to care for the blind.

• Miss Durrant's solid Christian foundation for her community.

• The University Tower's choice to turn away Coker and his followers.

• The Emergency Council's forced communities.

(see the answer keys)

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