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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. With what warning does the Librarian of Congress leave Faraday and Munira?

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

3. Scythe Rand’s comment about Tyger that “He’s certainly not the sharpest machete on the mantle” (245) is an example of which of the following?

4. How many of the Thunderhead’s cameras does Slayd need to distract to permit the assault on Scythes Curie and Anastasia to proceed?

5. How many bridges connect the World Council chamber to the rest of Endura?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Rowan consider the major point of his conversations with the Thunderhead?

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

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

4. Consider briefly the symbolism of the name Scythe Faraday assumes in the District of Columbia.

5. What is the primary rhetorical appeal made in Anastasia’s oration to the Grandslayers during the inquest, and why is it the primary appeal?

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

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

8. 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)?

9. What is the primary rhetorical appeal made in Goddard’s oration to the Grandslayers during the inquest, and why is it the primary appeal?

10. What requirements does the Thunderhead express for a new Grandslayer to be installed?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Scythe Curie remarks, “That’s exactly what the scythedom is: high school with murder” (344). Based on the novel, is that an accurate assessment? What in the text supports or undermines the assessment, and how does it do so?

Essay Topic 2

The Thunderhead remarks that “acts taken in anger are intrinsically problematic, and quite often lead to destruction” (443). Does the novel as a whole confirm the remark? What in the text suggests whether it does or not? How does it do so?

Essay Topic 3

Consider the injuries sustained by people in the attack on Scythes Curie and Anastasia in the theater—and from which they are revived and healed. What effects would sustaining such injuries, with awareness of them and of recovery from them, likely have on those who suffer them? What in the text suggests those effects? How does it do so?

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