View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What response does Dawkins give to the idea that birth control is wrong because it's unnatural?

2. According to Dawkins, is there a genetic reason to favor one child over others?

3. What does PI stand for?

4. What does Wynne-Edwards believe about territories that animals fight over?

5. How does Dawkins characterize the runt of a litter?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the result of Dawkins' game theory analysis of male and female sexual and childrearing behaviors?

2. According to Dawkins, in what ways does weaning benefit an older child?

3. What may happen to guillemot eggs, and what is the adaptation of guillemots to deal with this?

4. How does Dawkins describe female cells versus male cells?

5. When and why are gulls' offspring in danger?

6. What does Dawkins cite that makes human beings exceptions to the idea that genes for having too large a number of children die out?

7. What theory about parental suffering for children's success does Dawkins describe?

8. How do Trivers and Dawkins differ in their interpretation of males investing energy into offspring before mating?

9. What possible explanation for viruses does Dawkins give?

10. Does Dawkins put forth any ideas by Wynne-Edwards that he agrees with?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One of Dawkins' primary premises is that the good of the individual is what organisms strive for, not the good of the species. Discuss the conflict between the individual and the species in The Selfish Gene.

1) Why are individuals representative of their genes?

2) What is Dawkins' central argument for selfishness of individuals within a species? Why does the selfishness of genes translate to the selfishness of individuals?

3) What are the arguments that other scientists pose for individuals acting for the good of the species, and how does Dawkins counter those arguments?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the concept of relatedness in Dawkins' book.

1) What is the relationship between relatedness and altruism? What is its relationship to selfishness?

2) How does Dawkins calculate relatedness mathematically? What does this math represent?

3) How does Dawkins' treatment of relatedness differ from most people's cultural ideas of being related? What is the relationship between relatedness and genes?

Essay Topic 3

The opposite of selfishness is altruism, and Dawkins argues that many seemingly altruistic behaviors actually originate with the selfishness of genes. Discuss altruism in Dawkins' book.

1) What altruistic behaviors does Dawkins attribute to selfish genes? How convincing are his arguments?

2) What is "altruism"? Is there such a thing as true "altruism?"

3) How can altruism function for the good of the individual or for the good of the individual's genes?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 941 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample