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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. Tyger’s note that “Oh, man, this is the best news ever!” (62) is an example of which of the following?
(a) Litotes.
(b) Sarcasm.
(c) Conceit.
(d) Hyperbole.

2. In what martial art are scythes trained?
(a) Laamb.
(b) Krav Maga.
(c) Bokator.
(d) Aikido.

3. In what city is the Mortality Memorial?
(a) Erie.
(b) Philadelphia.
(c) Allentown.
(d) Pittsburgh.

4. With what type of knife does Faraday wake Rowan?
(a) Ringed karambit.
(b) Ringless karambit.
(c) Hiltless kukri.
(d) Bone-handled Bowie.

5. Which of the following is an ingredient in Xenocrates’s preferred libation?
(a) Lime.
(b) Orange.
(c) Lemon.
(d) Pineapple.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which of the following scythes speaks out against Anastasia’s methods?

2. The comment that “it lived by the laws it levied” (95) offers an example of which of the following?

3. What nickname does Munira have among the library clerks?

4. What form of Bokator do Tyger and Scythe Rand practice?

5. In what city does Anastasia glean Ethan J. Hogan?

Short Essay Questions

1. The Thunderhead rebukes its administration for desiring more ostentatious buildings (69-70). Why, per the text, does it do so?

2. What reason does the Thunderhead give for not accepting responsibility for dealing death?

3. In his expulsion hearing, Greyson works “to seamlessly begin to paint a convincing fiction” (93-94). What is the primary rhetorical appeal he makes in his presentation, and how is it enacted?

4. What does Rowan identify as problems with the scythes’ security forces when he confronts Xenocrates in his bath?

5. Xenocrates engages in a “trialogue” in a cathedral confessional with a representative of the Thunderhead and an Interlocutor, the latter of which serves as a go-between (20-23). There is a symbolic component to the meeting; what is it, and how does it manifest?

6. At first glance, the term “deadish” that appears throughout the novel might seem to be a euphemism; the “ish” suffix tends to be one that mitigates the effect or impact of the stem word to which it is attached. Why, however, is it NOT an example of euphemism?

7. The novel notes Rowan’s work “while others prepared for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday” (53), as well as marking other holidays throughout the year (Christmas is mentioned, among others). What does the denotation of what holidays are celebrated suggest about the culture of the narrative milieu?

8. The scythes are noted as having an officer called a Parliamentarian. There is a symbolic component to the presence of such an officer; what is it, and how does it manifest?

9. The Thunderhead remarks that it hopes to “have the virtual shoulders of Atlas to bear” what it describes as “very literally, the weight of the world” (167). There is an error in the phrasing; what is it, and why is it wrong?

10. What reasons does Xenocrates rehearse for visiting his bathhouse more frequently as the year draws to a close?

(see the answer keys)

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