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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 narrator describes the Martians as being about the size of what animal?

2. What is the name of the professional organization for astronomers?

3. Over what town is the gas jet first spotted?

4. How do most people react to the invasion on the first Friday after the cylinder lands?

5. What do the first visitors to the cylinder think is inside it at first?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe what the Martians look like.

2. What does Ogilvy think is twisting off the top of the cylinder?

3. Describe the narrator's experience when he goes back to his house after the invasion.

4. Why does the narrator walk toward the Martian down the road after leaving the pub?

5. Why do scientists think that Mars cannot support life?

6. What happens to the house in Halliford, and why is this important?

7. When the narrator first meets the artilleryman, what does the soldier say happened to his unit?

8. What does the black tube weapon reveal about the Martian's intentions?

9. Why does the author take his wife to his cousin's house? What is the state of the town at that point?

10. When the narrator returns to the common on the second day, who is in the pit? What are they doing and why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Research all of the scientific claims the narrator makes in War of the Worlds. Analyze whether or not each of these claims could be accurate.

Essay Topic 2

What purposes does the narrator's brother serve as a character?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the character of the artilleryman and what you think he is meant to represent.

(see the answer keys)

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