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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. Whom does Gertie coddle the most out of all of her children?

2. The Hindu family in the Gold family's building calls the fortune teller a "rishika" (5), which means a what?

3. When a policeman asks Simon to come to the San Francisco police station, what does he tell Simon is the purpose of his visit?

4. What job does Gertie take after dropping out of college?

5. At what location do Raj and Klara scavenge for wood to build Klara's magician's cabinet?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. When the narrator reveals that Raj has "big plans" (113) for overhauling Klara's act, what kind of changes does the narrator depict?

3. How does the novel's setting within the prologue affect the events of the narrative?

4. 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?

5. What does the narrator mean when describing Simon's impression of the Castro district as being like a "fallout shelter" (79)?

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 evidence does the author provide for the claim that the Gold children in 1969 "are siblings, this summer, in a way they never will be again" (4)?

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

10. What differences between Robert and Simon does the author depict as those that drive Simon to cheat on Robert?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explicate the theme of family bonds within the novel, particularly in relation to the Gold siblings and their parents. What is the author's message regarding family bonds and how do you know?

Essay Topic 2

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

Essay Topic 3

Discuss how and why the author instills three different humanist messages into the narrative of The Immortalists.

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