View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How many were killed by the cyclone that the author describes encountering in Delhi in Part 1, Section 5?
(a) 30.
(b) 65.
(c) 59.
(d) 22.

2. When did the destinies of New York and Mumbai become linked to the British Empire, according to the author in Part 1, Section 10?
(a) The 1590s.
(b) The 1620s.
(c) The 1750s.
(d) The 1660s.

3. What giant leap of nature likely led to the extinction of the dinosaurs?
(a) The Apophis asteroid.
(b) The Aglale asteroid.
(c) The Chicxulub asteroid.
(d) The Bennu asteroid.

4. What much-admired historical novel by Paul Kingsnorth is referenced in Part 1, Section 3?
(a) The Falling Tide.
(b) The Glass Room.
(c) The Flood.
(d) The Wake.

5. Who wrote Sacred Theory of the Earth (1690)?
(a) Gustave Flaubert.
(b) Stanislaw Lem.
(c) Thomas Burnet.
(d) Alfred Wegener.

Short Answer Questions

1. When did Giovanni da Verrazzano land on Manhattan?

2. How many people were injured by the cyclone that the author encountered while in Delhi?

3. The author concludes Part 1, Section 14 with the following: "So, if for a moment, we were to take seriously the premise that I started with--that the Anthropocene has forced us to recognize that there are other, fully aware eyes looking over our shoulders--the the first question to present itself is this" (66). What is the question he poses next?

4. Along what river did the author's ancestors settle after their original village was flooded?

5. What organization did Paul Kingsnorth create as "a network of writers, artists, and thinkers who have stopped believing the stories our civilization tells itself" (8)?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the author write about unpredictable events in literature?

2. What is the significance of the flood described in Part I, Section 2?

3. To what does the author attribute mankind's tendency toward living near bodies of water?

4. Describe the city of Mumbai. Where is it located? What is its population?

5. What does the term "Anthropocene" refer to?

6. What are "fillers" and how do they apply to contemporary literature?

7. What is the Dark Mountain Project and who formed it?

8. How is capitalism defined?

9. In what ways are Mumbai and New York similar?

10. What is Cartesian dualism?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 729 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample