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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What assumption in his audience does the narrator seek to overturn?
(a) That humanity deserves saving.
(b) That humanity will save the universe.
(c) That humanity is meaningless.
(d) That humanity teaches kindness and sympathy.

2. What do the narrator’s hosts tell him he should be?
(a) Normal.
(b) Malleable.
(c) Invisible.
(d) Patient.

3. How does Isobel Martin characterize Andrew Martin’s relationship with Daniel Russell?
(a) Deep hostility.
(b) Distrust and suspicion.
(c) Indifference.
(d) Mutual regard.

4. What is it that impresses the narrator about Grigori Perelman?
(a) He wins enormous amounts of money for solving mathematical problems.
(b) He did not publish his stunning mathematical work during his lifetime.
(c) He donates all the money he wins from math prizes to the poor.
(d) He turns down a money prize for accomplishments in math.

5. What does the narrator say is the one condition under which humans tolerate mad people?
(a) When they are mathematicians.
(b) When they are painters.
(c) When they are rich.
(d) When they are musicians.

Short Answer Questions

1. What happens to the narrator after Daniel Russell slaps him on the back?

2. Why does the narrator say he does not like wearing clothes?

3. What is it that moves the narrator during Daniel Russell’s dying moments?

4. How does Isobel respond, when the narrator asks her if their marriage has been a bad one?

5. What does the narrator find most appalling about humans’ appearance?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the narrator like about Emily Dickinson’s poetry?

2. What happens in the narrator’s interview with Andrew Martin’s wife Isobel?

3. Who are the main characters the narrator introduces at the beginning of the novel?

4. Who are the narrator’s chief suspects for people who might know about Andrew Martin’s discovery?

5. How does Haig characterize the marriage between Andrew and Isobel Martin?

6. How does the narrator characterize life in the world he comes from?

7. What is the importance of prime numbers for the narrator?

8. Why does the narrator say that Andrew Martin’s discovery needs to be erased?

9. What does the narrator tell Newton?

10. Who does the narrator meet in the cafeteria in the jail?

(see the answer keys)

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