View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which of the characters actually operates the model of the time machine?

2. On what day of the week did the guests come for dinner?

3. What kind of meat are they eating at the second dinner?

4. What are the Eloi's tables made of?

5. Which of the characters reads the note left by the Time Traveler?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the narrator's outlook on the future at the end of the novel?

2. Why does the Time Traveler take the lever out of the time machine when he lands in the far future?

3. How does the forest fire start?

4. Why does the Time Traveler think the Morlocks started eating Eloi?

5. What does the Time Traveler see and experience as he approaches his original time period?

6. What kind of humans, according to the Time Traveler, must have been the source of the Morlocks? Why did they evolve the way they did?

7. How does the Time Traveler describe the way the language of the Eloi sound?

8. According to the Time Traveler, what happened when he sat in the Time Machine and pressed the lever?

9. What happens to Weena in the forest fire?

10. What happens after the Time Traveler mimics the clap of thunder that accompanied his arrival in Chapter 4?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Both the Eloi and the Morlock live in communist societies. Describe what makes these societies "communist" or communal, using textual examples. Determine what you think Wells's opinions of communism might have been. What do you think he wanted his readers to think and feel about communism?

Essay Topic 2

This novel is one of the founding works of science fiction, or more specifically, one of the earliest examples of speculative fiction. Consider this novel in terms of its genre, identifying the fictional elements that are "science fictional" or speculative, and determining how Wells used speculative elements to craft a sharp critique of his own time. Be sure to include specific textual examples.

Essay Topic 3

This novel features both a narrator, who tells the story to the reader, and an internal narrator--the Time Traveler--who relates his story to the narrator. Analyze the narrative strategies Wells uses to tell this story, including specific analysis of voice, distance, and access to and flow of information. Be sure to consider the issue of reliability on the part of both of the narrators: does the reader believe the narrator? Does the narrator believe the Time Traveler? What kinds of proof and evidence does each provide? Who has access to what kinds of information.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 842 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample