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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 foodstuff does the diet of the Eloi consist?

2. Why does the Time Traveler think that it was not the Eloi who moved the time machine?

3. Which battle does the Psychologist mention, when the men speak of traveling in history to see past battles?

4. In Chapter 3, which of the following things is wrong with the time machine when the Time Traveler returns?

5. Of what metal is the pedestal of the Sphinx made?

Short Essay Questions

1. What finally convinces the narrator himself of the truth of the Time Traveler's story at the end of the novel?

2. To the narrator, what do the strange white flowers seem to symbolize at the end of the novel?

3. How does the forest fire start?

4. 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?

5. What does the Time Traveler feel when he sees the decayed books in the Palace?

6. What explains the fact that the time machine is in the opposite corner of his laboratory when the Time Traveler returns to his present day?

7. What does the Time Traveler do with the white flowers Weena picked?

8. What does the Time Traveler find when he begins to explore the Palace of Green Porcelain in the Southwest?

9. Describe the Time Traveler's appearance when he suddenly arrives during the second dinner.

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Even though Weena seems to be a main character, she is someone without language, someone with little agency, and is not even human. Explain the ways in which Wells characterizes Weena and determine the specific strategies he employs to distance her from the reader. What ideas does her characterization dramatize? What does she "represent" and do you consider her a main or major character in this novel? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

This novel takes what some might consider a pessimistic view of the role science plays in modern life. Even though Wells's narrative takes place in the 19th century, there are many parallels one could draw between the scientific and technical progress discuused in the novel and the explosion of digital technologies in our own time. Using textual examples from Wells, analyze the effects technological developments and innovations are likely to have on humanity. Compare and contrast Wells's predictions of what technological advancement does to humanity with your opinion of the effects of the technological advancements from your own lifetime.

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.

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