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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. The comment that “the line in the sand became a fissure that threatened to swallow those who did not choose a side” (327) offers an example of which of the following?

2. Of what stone is the Africa Seat of Consideration made?

3. What does Rowan note is “the unofficial motto of all Charter Regions” (247)?

4. How many apprentices are tested in poisons at the conclave?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. Consider Scythe Constantine’s comment that he will attend the scythes’ conclave “even if they have to replace [his] blood with antifreeze to make it happen” (281-82). What is implied about him by the comment, and how is it implied?

2. What does the Thunderhead aver that it does not know?

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

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

5. What overall form does Endura take?

6. What problems attend Scythe Anastasia seeking to meet with Rowan after the attack on her at the theater?

7. What reasons does the Thunderhead give for disliking having its “backbrain” searched?

8. What information does Rowan have about Texas when he awakens in captivity there (246)?

9. What is the persistent remark made by Grandslayers about their Seats of Consideration?

10. 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)?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

The Thunderhead remarks that “although I do not require devotion, am I not deserving of it?” as it considers its status relative to the deities worshipped in its past (158). Based on the text leading up to the comment—the beginning of the novel through Chapter 15, “Hall of the Founders”—is the Thunderhead correct? How or how not, and to what extent?

Essay Topic 3

Greyson notes that those who, like him, express an early interest in working in Thunderhead administration are generally dull, boring (67). Why might this be so? What in the text and in experience suggest it, and how does it do so?

(see the answer keys)

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