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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. What is Holston’s position of employment in the novel?

2. Whom does Holston see picking up scattered chalk and crayons from the stained tiles at the top of the stairs in Chapter 1?

3. How many years has it been since someone’s been sent to cleaning in Chapter 3?

4. What are described in Chapter 1 as “the widest rooms of the entire silo complex”?

5. What word used in Chapter 3 refers to the state of feeling or showing remorse?

Short Essay Questions

1. What theory does Holston develop for the reason the view is different in the holding room in Chapter 2?

2. What theory does Holston reach about the wiped servers in Chapter 3?

3. What setting is described at the top of the stairs in Chapter 1?

4. What does Mayor Jahns say about the holding cell when she first arrives in Chapter 2?

5. From what narrative point of view is the story related? Is the narrative told in the past, present, or future tense?

6. What is the protagonist doing when he is first introduced in Chapter 1?

7. What is an example of the use of literary repetition in Chapter 1? What purpose does this example serve?

8. What is the theory that Allison presents to Holston in Chapter 3?

9. What does Holston notice about the view from the holding room in the beginning of Chapter 2?

10. How is Holston said to relate to his memories of childhood in Chapter 1?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the character of Nelson in the narrative. What does the author reveal about Nelson’s history in Chapter 4? How well do Holston and Nelson know one another? How would you characterize their relationship?

Essay Topic 2

Describe history of revolts discovered by Allison in her research. How frequently did the earlier revolts occur? When did the revolts stop? What are the implications of the end of the revolts?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the exchange between Holston and Mayor Jahns in Chapter 2. Based on this conversation, what can you surmise of the relationship between these characters? How long have they known one another? What is their past like?

(see the answer keys)

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