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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 phrase or word involving time does LeGuin use in the first sentence of Paragraph 4?
(a) By now.
(b) Ticking.
(c) Clock.
(d) By then.

2. The sound of what instrument is described as "imperious, melancholy, piercing" (6)?
(a) Dulcimer.
(b) Trumpet.
(c) Bassoon.
(d) Tuba.

3. What event is being celebrated at the depicted festival?
(a) New Year's Day.
(b) Summer.
(c) Solstice.
(d) Winter.

4. The floor of the scapegoat child's dwelling is made of what material?
(a) Linoleum.
(b) Dirt.
(c) Wood.
(d) Stone.

5. How many windows does the scapegoat child's dwelling have?
(a) 3.
(b) 1.
(c) 0.
(d) 2.

Short Answer Questions

1. What age is the woman who passes out flowers at the festival?

2. How old does the scapegoat child of Omelas appear to be, according to Paragraph 8?

3. How many paces long is the dwelling of the scapegoat child?

4. What type of instrument is played by one particular child within Omelas?

5. Who wears the woman's flowers in their hair after taking them from her?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is food used to indicate the satisfaction of Omelas's citizens?

2. How is the truth about the scapegoat child revealed to young members of Omelas society?

3. What answer does LeGuin expect from the reader in answer to her four questions and why?

4. What is LeGuin's purpose for portraying the child who plays a musical instrument within the community of Omelas?

5. For what purpose does LeGuin provide a time marker at the start of Paragraph 4?

6. For what purpose does LeGuin include the motif of pain within Paragraph 8?

7. For what reason does LeGuin focus on the citizens' awareness of the scapegoat child's presence?

8. Describe the riders' interactions with their horses before the Festival of Summer race.

9. After LeGuin assumes that she knows the reader's answers to her four questions, she instructs the reader to allow her to take what action?

10. Describe the woman who hands out flowers during the festival.

(see the answer keys)

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