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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 does the narrator learn from questioning Gulliver?

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

3. What happened to cause Andrew Martin to stop liking his son?

4. What does the narrator say is the best way to get someone on your side?

5. What is it that makes the narrator sick the day after killing Daniel Russell?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the narrator’s relationship with pain like?

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

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

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

5. What does Gulliver tell the narrator about the Martins’ household?

6. How does the narrator explain the Riemann Hypothesis, and what does he say Andrew Martin discovered about it?

7. What is the narrator’s first experience of food and drink like?

8. What does the narrator learn about mathematicians that undermines his core beliefs about human beings?

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

10. How does Andrew Martin characterize his discovery in the introduction the narrator reads?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What topics would you like to research further, after reading The Humans. Describe why additional research or reading would be beneficial to an understanding of this book. Propose a list of articles or books you would read in order to get a better handle on The Humans.

Essay Topic 2

Evaluate the ending of The Humans. Does it ring true to you? Does it successfully resolve the problems and tensions that preceded it? What would you change, if anything? What are you left wishing for closure on, if anything?

Essay Topic 3

Write a character sketch of the author based on his style and content. What can we tell about him, based on the choices he makes in terms of description, characterization and plot? What values does he hold dear? What are his hopes and fears? What kind of person do you think he is? Anchor your sketch in passages in the book.

(see the answer keys)

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