Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

STORY 1: “Tower of Babylon”

Reading Check

1. Where is Hillalum, the protagonist, from?

2. What do the miners hit in the vault that brings catastrophe?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What is Hillalum’s profession, and why has he been chosen to climb the tower?

2. What is Hillalum apprehensive about? How does this distinguish him from the other workers and tower-dwellers?

Paired Resource

“To the Unseeable Animal”

• This poem by Wendell Berry is rooted in the Environmental Movement of the 1970s. It implores readers and humanity to relish the unknown of the natural world.
• This connects to the theme of The Ethics of New Scientific Discoveries.
• How do both the story “Tower of Babylon” and the poem “To the Unseeable Animal” comment on the human desire to witness, to see for oneself? How do they offer another way of understanding humans’ relationship to the natural world? How do spirituality and environmentalism intersect?

STORY 2: “Understand”

Reading Check

1. Where is the narrator, Leon, at in the beginning of the story?

2. What does the command “understand” prompt at the end of the story?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What experimental treatment is Leon given after nearly drowning, and how does this treatment affect him?

2. Who is Reynolds, and what is the main difference between him and Leon?

STORY 3: “Division by Zero”

Reading Check

1. What is Renee’s profession?

2. Where did Carl and Renee meet?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Carl respond to Renee’s hospitalization, and what does this show about him?

STORY 4: “Story of Your Life”

Reading Check

1. What is Dr. Louise Banks’s area of expertise?

2. Whose life is Louise recalling?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does “infant” translate to in Latin, and why does Louise say that this is actually a misnomer for infants’ behavior?

2. How does Louise change as she learns more about the Heptapods’ minds and way of communication, and what is the result of this change?

Paired Resource

“The Squid Who Fell in Love With the Sun”

• This short story by Ben Loory follows an outcast squid, whose desire to escape the depths of the sea and embrace the sun results in a complicated journey of exploration.
• This connects to the themes of Combining the Real With the Metaphorical or Fantastical and The Ethics of New Scientific Discoveries.
• What is the ultimate benefit of working toward a goal or dream? Is the achievement of that goal the most important result, or is it the knowledge and experience gathered along the way? How does the story of the squid connect to stories from Chiang’s collection?

STORY 5: “Seventy-Two Letters”

Reading Check

1. “Seventy-Two Letters” is what subgenre of science fiction?

2. Where does Robert Stratton begin to work making automata?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What is Robert’s reaction to being told of Lord Fieldhurst’s plans to practice eugenics, and what does this show about Robert’s character?

2. What does Robert realize about Roth’s epithet?

STORY 6: “The Evolution of Human Science”

Reading Check

1. What form is “The Evolution of Human Science” written in?

2. What is the metahuman’s method of communicating scientific research findings?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What did human scientists realize after the rise of metahuman science, and what was the impact of this change?

2. What is the message at the conclusion of the article?

Paired Resource

“She Unnames Them”

• Ursula K. Le Guin reimagines the story of Genesis in which Eve unnames the animals in the Garden of Eden, rejecting the power dynamic between Adam and the others and creating a closer relationship between herself and the animals.
• This connects to the theme of Cultural Paradigms in Alternative Realities.
• What role do names play in shaping identity? Is self-determination a way forward to a more just and empowered world? How does this connect to “Seventy-Two Letters” and other stories in Chiang’s collection?

STORY 7: “Hell Is the Absence of God”

Reading Check

1. What abnormality is Neil Fisk born with?

2. What does Janice Reilly preach?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How are angels depicted differently in “Hell Is the Absence of God,” and what does this show about faith?

STORY 8: “Liking What You See: A Documentary”

Reading Check

1. What form does the writing style of the story take?

2. What is calliagnosia?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What is the setting of “Liking What You See: A Documentary,” and how does it help convey meaning in the story?

2. What choice does Tamara make in regard to her calli, and what is the impact of this choice?

Paired Resource

“On the Intersection of Science and Religion”

• This article from the Pew Research Center explores the relationship between science and religion and looks at the ways major world religions have related to science.
• This connects to the theme of Cultural Paradigms in Alternative Realities.
• What is the relationship between science and religion? Are the two in conflict, or can they work together and supplement each other? How does Ted Chiang explore some of these questions in his stories?

Recommended Next Reads

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

• This 1968 novel is set in post-apocalyptic San Francisco. It follows Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter who tracks down and eliminates human-like androids.
• Shared themes include The Danger of Superintelligence and Cultural Paradigms in Alternative Realities.
• Shared topics include humanity versus artificial intelligence, perception versus reality, memory, and the environment.
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? on SuperSummary

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

• This 1993 novel is the first in a two-part series. It follows the story of Lauren Olamina as she navigates a post-apocalyptic world that has been destroyed by climate change.
• Shared themes include The Ethics of New Scientific Discoveries and Cultural Paradigms in Alternative Realities.
• Shared topics include hope and change, destruction and rebuilding, truth, community, and the power of language.
• Parable of the Sower on SuperSummary