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 do Bill and Josella see in the night that chooses for them where to go in the morning?

2. What does the main character admit the triffids did for him?

3. What does the elderly man Bill sees in the beginning of Chapter Four carry?

4. What has Bill decided by the end of Chapter Two?

5. What is the young woman's name?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is revealed about the new use for sighted children and blind women in Chapter Three?

2. Why does Bill not kill the man holding Josella captive?

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

4. What is revealed about the triffids in Chapter Four, and how is this revealed in the book?

5. Do you think the narrator is right to leave the blind group in the lobby of the hospital, knowing they cannot see to get out?

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

8. Describe the walking style of a triffid.

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

10. What surprises Josella about her actions when she was captive?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

There are several incidents of suicide in the novel. Choose from one of the following and describe, in detail, the circumstances behind the suicide, and your thoughts on the person's act. Were they smart to end their lives or was the act cowardly? What were their alternatives? What would you have done in their positions?

• The landlord of the tavern in Chapter One.

• The couple in Chapter Five.

• The young woman in Chapter Eight.

Essay Topic 2

Explain Bill's belief about the end of civilization, based on his previous comments in the novel about the dangers of satellites and the hostility of the world, as well as his comments in Chapter Fifteen about the walking of the world on a tightrope. What do you think Bill means by this? What do you think he believes caused the end of civilization? What does he say he thinks caused the comet? What is Josella's response to his belief? Do you agree with his thoughts? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,122 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample