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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 item does Kerans retrieve from the intact safe in Chapter 12?

2. What does Kerans encounter while following the lagoons southwards?

3. What does Riggs intend to do with Strangman in Chapter 13?

4. What issue does Kerans argue with Riggs about in Chapter 13?

5. Whom does Strangman introduce as "the Admiral"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Kerans discover when he returns to his penthouse room in the hotel?

2. How does Kerans' opinion of Strangman change over time?

3. How does Kerans react when Sergeant Macready spots him and the dynamite?

4. What does Kerans do after the explosion and what does he say to Beatrice?

5. What is Strangman doing during the two weeks Kerans watches him?

6. What does Kerans see in the old planetarium?

7. How does Kerans perceive Strangman and what unsettles him about him?

8. How does Kerans care for Lieutenant Hardman during the days they spend together?

9. What intrigues Kerans about Strangman's crew and their loyalty?

10. Who lunges at Kerans with a blade and why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the role of technology in the drowned world and its juxtaposition with the primitive instincts and behaviors that emerge in the characters.

Essay Topic 2

The characters in The Drowned World are often driven by a sense of nostalgia for the past and a desire to return to a world that no longer exists. Discuss the role of memory and nostalgia in the book and how it shapes the characters' actions and motivations.

Essay Topic 3

How does Ballard use the character of Kerans to explore the theme of isolation in The Drowned World? Give examples from the text.

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