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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. Who is Lazarus?

2. What did Og do with his first book before he gave it to Simon?

3. Why does Og want to stay at the magazine?

4. When Og left Simon after his second encounter with him, what did he wonder?

5. What did Simon do after he drove through the gate?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where did Simon take Og after they met for the second time and what was Og's first impression of the place?

2. What did Simon ask Og to remember for the next time they met?

3. What did Simon say about Og's boss as he looked at Stone's picture?

4. What happened to Og right after he saw Simon in the snow?

5. What did Simon tell Og he believed about the mind?

6. How did Og view Simon?

7. When Og met Simon for the second time he talked about his name and his vocation. What did he say?

8. What did Simon suggest to Og when he was having trouble with the gate and what happened?

9. What did Og think he and Simon could do together?

10. How did Simon think about handicapped people and people in jobs they hated?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

After Og finished reading Simon's letter to him he cried. He wondered to himself why he was crying and if he had realized too late who Simon Potter really was.

1. Who do you think Simon Potter was? Use examples from the book to support your answer.

2. What would you do and how would you feel if Og's encounter with Simon had happened to you?

Essay Topic 2

This first chapter touches on the theme of friendship, not only introducing the two main characters, but already suggesting the kind of relationship they will experience by the writer's first words.

1. Describe what you think the first chapter was saying about the two men, Simon and Og's, relationship.

2. Did you think the two men were still friends when this book was written? Why or why not?

3. What did the first words of the book, above, foreshadow to you?

Essay Topic 3

Simon quoted Richter as saying that "life becomes more and more bright the longer we live and the reason of everything becomes more clear."

1. What is your interpretation of this quote? Do you think the quote means the same to you as to Simon?

2. When thinking of an older person you know, for example, your grandparent; or an older person that you have heard about, how would this saying apply to them?

3. Simon seems to believe life gets better as one gets older and yet America seems to be a culture focused on youth. Do you think it is more difficult for an older person to have a better life in a country where youth is valued? Why or why not? Use an example from your life or from a book or movie you have read or seen.

(see the answer keys)

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