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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. Why has Hoa been eating Essun's stone body parts?

2. How does Essun reach the onyx obelisk?

3. What does Hoa do with Essun?

4. Why does Hoa tell Essun to be impressed with Nassun when he describes her attempt to activate the Gate?

5. What does Nassun see fused with the Earth's core?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to Lerna on the journey to Corepoint?

2. When Steel, Antimony and Hoa meet, what reasoning does Steel give for manipulating Nassun?

3. Why is Schaffa narrating the story to Essun?

4. What hardships happen to the people of Castrima as they travel through the desert?

5. Why does Essun give Nassun control of the Obelisk Gate?

6. What people are living in Corepoint when Nassun arrives?

7. How did the Earth access the Plutonic Engine when Syl Anagist first activated it?

8. How does Nassun react when Essun is transformed by the power of the Obelisk Gate?

9. What did the tuners intend to do when they were supposed to activate the Plutonic Engine?

10. How are Kelenli and Gallat related?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Nassun and Essun have extremely different relationships with Schaffa. Analyze Schaffa’s behavior throughout the novel to explain each character’s perspective on him. How does Schaffa understand his past mistakes? What role does he play in the final conflict?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Hoa suggests that he ‘wants’ to remember Kelenli as resembling Essun and likewise wants to remember Gallat as resembling Schaffa. What does this desire tell us about Hoa’s attitudes towards those characters? What similarities are there in the roles those characters play in his life?

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