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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 do they find in Chelgrin's room?

2. What does Alex throw at Carrera?

3. Why does the woman in the room where Joanna wakes up after being kidnapped laugh when she tells Joanna her name?

4. Where does Carrera find Alex after Alex escapes from him?

5. When they arrive at the hotel, about what does Alex have a premonition?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is happening with Alex that might be similar to what was going on with Joanna? What might the reader wonder because of this?

2. In terms of narration what do you think Chapters 60-70 do?

3. Where is Peterson in Chapters 53-59, what does he witness, and what might the reader wonder about him because of his behavior?

4. What happens to Joanna and Alex when they arrive in St. Moritz? What does Peterson have to do with it and what might a reader be wondering at this point?

5. Who is Peterson and how was he involved in the entire situation?

6. How might a reader respond to what is going on with Alex and what is the evidence to suggest that Alex and Joanna are being manipulated?

7. By Chapter 42, how do you think the reader feels about Thomas Chelgrin. How does the character actually turn out?

8. Where does Alex go after he wakes up and what happens there?

9. How do Alex and Joanna leave London and what happens that surprises Alex? What does this make him suspect?

10. What bad decision does Rotenhausen make and how does Joanna use it to save herself?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Carrera is not a nice person from his obsession with inflicting pain on himself and his thoughts in regards to killing people for pleasure. The reader feels the malice that Carrera exudes and feels fear for Alex and Joanna, who are surely going to be targets of Carrera's maliciousness.

1. Unfortunately there are a number of people in the world who seem to like to inflict pain on themselves or others. Following research on sadism, discuss why Carrera is a sadist with examples from the book.

2. There is obviously deep seated psychological reasons why someone would derive pleasure from pain, either their own pain or someone else. Is it possible that people who feel this way have some common factors in childhood? Discuss reasons from a childhood you think could form a person to become a sadist.

3. There is great debate in criminal justice circles as to whether someone who commits homicide is mentally ill. Some say anyone who kills another human being except in self defense has to be mentally ill because sane people don't kill other people. Do you agree with this? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Peterson admits that he and the CIA brainwashed Alex into going to Kyoto to find Joanna so they could follow well-placed clues to bring them to St. Moritz. Peterson says the CIA needed Chelgrin to die before he could be elected President, but could not do it themselves for fear it would tip off the Russians that Chelgrin has been compromised for many years.

1. How would you feel and what would you do if you were Alex?

2. Peterson, a C.I.A. agent freely admits to Alex being brainwashed by the C.I.A. Discuss what you think the possibility is that in real life the C.I.A. would do something like this.

3. Should Alex be considered a hero for taking care of a national security problem for the U.S. government in spite of doing it unknowingly? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Joanna is plagued by a recurring nightmare in which a man with a mechanical hand uses a hypodermic needle to do something unclear to her. Joanna always wakes from this dream in the grip of a panic. It seems Joanna is uninterested in learning the truth about the dream, perhaps afraid of finding out something she does not want to know.

1. Why do you think Joanna doesn't want to find out the cause of her nightmares? Use examples from the text and your own thoughts to support your answer.

2. Do you think nightmares always have a cause? Why or why not?

3. Describe a recurring nightmare you or someone you know has had. Compare it to Joanna's. How do you or the person having the nightmare deal with it?

(see the answer keys)

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