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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 a color used to decorate the horses of Omelas?

2. What aspect of law enforcement does LeGuin say Omelas lacks?

3. What colorful objects are used to decorate the horses of Omelas with color?

4. What sort of clothing is worn by the people who exercise the horses?

5. The children in Omelas are described in what way when they are first mentioned?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the weather described on the day of the Festival of Summer and what is its significance?

2. What is ironic about the way in which horses are treated in Omelas?

3. How is foreshadowing used within the story's description of the mountains in Paragraph 1?

4. Describe a point at which the narrator suggests that the reader give their own input into the vision of Omelas.

5. LeGuin sees what kind of danger in modern society's method of perceiving evil?

6. How do the processions that include Omelas's livelier residents differ from other processions?

7. Describe an instance when the narrator directly engages with the reader of the story.

8. After the narrator states that Omelas sounds "like a city in a fairy tale," (3) what action does she suggest the reader take?

9. What purpose does LeGuin have for involving the reader in the creation of Omelas?

10. What evidence is given for the conclusion that people in Omelas do indeed have different identities?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze LeGuin’s focus on the theme of self-deception in "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas." What message is LeGuin sending about the power of self-deception and for what purpose is she sending this message?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the instances of irony within the narrative of "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" and analyze LeGuin’s purpose for including each instance you discuss.

Essay Topic 3

William Faulkner once famously claimed that the most important literature deals with the subject of the human heart in conflict with itself. Explain how the theme of Human versus Self is demonstrated within LeGuin’s story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas." Create a decisive, arguable claim and prove it with quotes from the text.

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This section contains 992 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample