A Ladder to the Sky Quiz

Take our free A Ladder to the Sky quiz below, with 25 multiple choice questions that help you test your knowledge. Determine which chapters, themes and styles you already know and what you need to study for your upcoming essay, midterm, or final exam. Take the free quiz now!

Why does Maurice drink beginning at eight minutes past two every day? (from Part 3: Other People's Stories)

It is a chosen time that he keeps in order to maintain a strict routine.

This is the exact time that Daniel died.

This is the exact time that he signed his contract for The Tribesman.

This is the time of day that Daniel was born.

How is Maurice able to take the stories of other writers and publish them as his own? (from Interlude: The Threatened Animal)

He destroys the originals so that there is no evidence that he ever received the story in the first place.

He only uses the work from foreign writers so that their will be no legal issues.

He combines basic story ideas from several places and changes specific details to make the originals unrecognizable.

He pays them small for their ideas.

Why do the chapter titles in Part II change suddenly from naming individual months to the single word, "Now" (216)? (from Part 2: The Tribesman)

"Now" helps the reader to feel like the story is taking place right there with them.

Because of the fall, Edith cannot really remember what month it is.

Edith is in a coma and she has no idea how long she has been in the hospital or what month it is.

The story is finally caught up to the present, so the last few months are all lumped into the phrase "now".

Based on her comment concerning Daniel's response to the gifts Jupiter gives him (240), what is Mrs. Lane's opinion of men? (from Interlude: The Threatened Animal)

She sees men as very gracious and thoughtful.

She believes men need to learn to be kinder to women and give them gifts in return.

She believes men need to learn how to say thank you to women and appreciate them more.

She views men as taking what they can from women and then casting them aside.

What does Maurice do to keep Erich talking about his past and revealing more secrets? (from Part 1: Before the Wall Came Down)

He meets him every night for drinks so that he can get Erich drunk and loosened up.

He does an excellent job as a personal assistant.

He continually flatters Erich and tells him he is a first class writer.

He toys with Erich sexually and gives him little bits of hope that they might have a sexual encounter.