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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. During their expedition in Chapter 11, when Roy wishes for a torch light what does Rod wish for?

2. What object signifies a vote for Grant?

3. What does Jack plan to give to Bob and Carmen as a wedding present?

4. How is the first part of Chapter 11 different from the rest of the novel?

5. When Rod and Roy reach the downstream end of the river on their expedition, what do they find?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Rod banish Jock and his friends, four older boys, from the colony?

2. During a square dance in Chapter 14, what do almost all of the students say they would do if rescuers come?

3. Why don't students want to relocate to the caves Rod and Roy discovered?

4. What do Rod and Roy discover, as far downstream as they can go?

5. When rescuers arrive, who is the only student who refuses to return home?

6. Why do Bob and Carmen ask to wait a day when their friends consider abandoning Grant's rule and forming a new colony?

7. What does Deacon Matson finally define as a stobor?

8. Early in Chapter 8, how is Jack injured?

9. How does Grant use the incident between Rod and Jock in Chapter 8 to overthrow Rod from his leadership position?

10. What happens to Grant during the dopey joes' aggressive period?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Near the end of the novel when officials from Terra arrive to rescue the students, why is Rod the only one who wishes to stay on the new planet? Why are the other students so anxious to leave, even though many had previously stated that they would never want to return home? What irresistible attractions draw them home, that could never be replicated in Cowpertown?

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast the governmental styles of Rod Walker and Grant Cowper. How are the two ultimately able to work together, despite their differences? What does this say about Heinlein's attitudes toward democracy and dictatorship, cooperation and autonomy?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the family dynamics of the Walker family, as depicted early in the novel. Why do Rod's parents conceal from him the fact that Rod's father is terminally ill and the fact that both of Rod's parents plan to be frozen for twenty years in the hope that a cure will be found? How do the family dynamics change by the final chapter, as a result of Rod's new life experiences and the passage of time?

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This section contains 819 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample