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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. Who attacks the people of Castrima within the stone forest?

2. How did Kelenli explain her proficiency with the onyx obelisk to the other tuners?

3. Who killed Nassun's father?

4. What is wrong with Essun's arm when she wakes up at the beginning of the novel?

5. Where must Schaffa and Nassun go to find the deadciv Station?

Short Essay Questions

1. What’s unusual about the building Kelenli leads the tuners to during their first lesson?

2. Why must the orogenes be controlled, according to Schaffa?

3. How does Schaffa explain his cruelty towards the orogenes when he and Nassun discuss the issue on their way to the Station?

4. When Schaffa and Nassun arrive at Old Man's Pucker, they camp outside the forest before heading in to look for the Station. Why?

5. Where is Hoa while he narrates the novel?

6. Why does Hoa’s prison in Syl Anagist require no guards?

7. Why does Nassun want to end the world?

8. Why did Essun destroy the geode at Castrima?

9. Why does Ykka say she is mad at Essun when Essun first wakes up from her coma?

10. What causes the Guardians Umber and Nida to attack Nassun?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Houwha’s feelings about his identity as a tuner undergo a severe shift during his time in Syl Anagist. Explain how this shift occurs and what it leads him to do. What is his attitude before meeting Kelenli? Why do his experiences shape his new attitude? How does he ultimately view himself millennia later as Hoa?

Essay Topic 2

Chapter 1 concludes with an interview between an old woman and an unnamed scribe. Write an essay explaining the importance of the interviewee’s statement to the themes and events of the novel. What ‘cycle’ is the old woman talking about? Which of the protagonists best exemplifies her approach?

Essay Topic 3

Many of the chapters in Jemisin’s novel end with short fragments from other texts, most prominently the field notes of Yaetr Innovator Dibars. Analyze the contents of these fragments along with their surrounding chapters. How does Nemisin use these fragments to convey the attitudes of people in the Stillness? What do these fragments suggest about the setting’s culture and history?

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