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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 is NOT named among Simon's "earliest memories of Ward 86" (87)?

2. Whose shift does Simon cover when he "wakes up with a red dot on the white of his left eye"? (86)

3. What do Klara and Varya find inside the lacquered box in Gertie's lingerie drawer?

4. To whom does adult Daniel bear a resemblance, according to Klara?

5. What feat does Klara tell Simon will be the main event within her magic show?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Robert's story about his friend Dante demonstrate the themes of violence and hate?

2. What is the significance of Klara's feelings about the phenomenon of red tide?

3. Who is the first of the Gold siblings to hear about the fortune teller and what action does this sibling then take?

4. Describe the significance of Simon's dream about salmon and how it relates to his mindset at the time of his dream.

5. How is an allusion to the story of Icarus used within the author's depiction of Simon's progression toward the date of his foretold death?

6. How did the Gold children's maternal grandmother die and why are the children adults before they find out this information?

7. How is repetition employed within the opening passage of Part Two:Proteus and to what effect?

8. What do the Gold children bring to the fortune teller as payment for her services and why?

9. What aspects of Robert's character are depicted as those that make him "stand out" (59) to Simon?

10. What is Robert's reaction to the AIDS epidemic and how does it differ from Simon's?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the author's use of humor alongside humanist messages within the novel.

Essay Topic 2

How is the topic of revolution treated within the novel and how does its treatment relate to the book's depicted eras?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the author's messages about guilt and responsibility within the novel The Immortalists.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,344 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample