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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. Of what stone is the Antarctica Seat of Consideration made?

2. How much of a person’s body do the Grandslayers rule must remain intact for that person to remain a scythe?

3. Which of the following scythes is the Parliamentarian at the conclave?

4. How old is the person upon whom Slayd preys to enact his distraction?

5. The comment that “he was cast into the belly of blandness, doomed to be digested by boredom” (290) offers examples of which of the following?

Short Essay Questions

1. What problems does Rowan identify in his attempt to escape Endura?

2. What overall form does Endura take?

3. What clues do Scythes Rand and Goddard leave to affirm what they have done to Tyger?

4. What is the backup plan for the distraction at the assault on Scythes Curie and Anastasia at the theater? Why is it the backup plan (264-65)?

5. What distinction is noted between previous conclaves’ security and that of the conclave of January 7, Year of the Raptor?

6. How does Xenocrates die? What occasions the death?

7. What had been the significance of Xenocrates’s dinner parties?

8. What reasons does Anastasia consider for assisting Greyson in evading Constantine?

9. What rituals attend upon opening the scythes’ conclave, and why are they important?

10. What reasons does Scythe Curie give for her antipathy towards Tonists (239)?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Consider the following passage: “‘He didn’t go out with the garbage,’ Scythe Rand said. ‘I took care of it myself, then spread his ashes in a field of wild bluebonnets. Just saying” (306). Assuming that Rand is being truthful, what does the passage imply about her? What in the text affirms the implication? How is the implication supported?

Essay Topic 2

As Greyson begins his stint as an unsavory, he relates a number of conditions under which the unsavory must live: they are disallowed direct contact with the Thunderhead, they have probation officers with whom they must check in, they receive discourteous service from automata, and they suffer under social stigma. Of them, which is the worst in the context of the novel? What in the text suggests it is so? How does it do so?

Essay Topic 3

It is clear that the novel belongs to the genre of young adult fiction. It is also clear that the novel belongs to the genre of science fiction. Explain how it does so, noting ways in which it follows and fails to follow conventions of the genre. (Note that being able to do so entails being able to articulate those conventions, likely with illustrative examples.)

(see the answer keys)

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