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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. In the days immediately following the first heat ray, the only people that know about it live in what town?

2. How is the soldier separated from his unit?

3. How large in diameter is the first cylinder?

4. What does the narrator hear after the shopman goes into the pit?

5. How far is Mars from the sun according to the narrator?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do those who first see the cylinder feel about it in general, and why do they feel this way?

2. How do people feel about the Martians when they first see them? When and why does this change?

3. How do people in Woking initially react to news of the Martian attack?

4. What does the narrator find when he leaves the ruined house? What does this indicate?

5. After the narrator walks toward the dead Martian, what does he see, and why is this important?

6. How does the narrator attempt to reassure himself and his wife when he returns home after the first heat-ray?

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

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

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

10. What is different about the flaming gas jets from usual shooting stars, and what do people think they are at first?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How and why do people use a crisis for personal gain in War of the Worlds?

Essay Topic 2

Explain how War of the Worlds fits the traditional plot structure of a novel.

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of using the flashback technique in general, and specifically in this novel.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 758 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample