Alas, Babylon Part 2 Test Review

Chapter 8

Theme Reminders:

  • Only the fittest survive
  • Example: Edgar is an “angel fish,” while Randy and Lib are “catfish”
  • Human nature is essentially good
  • Example: Jim Hickey gives Randy honey because he doesn’t want the kids (Peyton and Ben) to go without

Characterization:

  • The cause of Pete Hernandez’s radiation poisoning = radioactive jewelry that he traded for with Porky Logan
  • Pete and Rita Hernandez are making decisions based on greed = character flaw

Chapter 9

Key Events:

  • Porky Logan dies from radiation poisoning.
  • Randy has to use his gun in order to persuade men from Marines Park to be pallbearers (carry his coffin). Randy’s use of force shows how he assumes leadership of Fort Repose. Under martial law, Randy automatically becomes the new leader.
  • Ben and Caleb are responsible for protecting the Henry’s chicken coop at night since something is stealing/eating the animals. Ben shoots the wild dog (described as vicious and wild like a wolf), and he cries at thinking he might have shot someone’s pet.
  • Ben has to grow up! (loss of his innocence / childhood)

Chapter 10

Key Events:

  • Dan gets attacked by the highwaymen. He is tricked into pulling over the car when he sees an injured woman on the side of the road. He realizes it’s a trick when she smiles at him.
  • Randy and his friends want to get revenge! They borrow a grocery truck from Rita Hernandez to lure the highwaymen out of hiding. Randy wants to punish them for attacking Dan.

Chapter 11

Key Events:

  • Randy and Lib also decide to get married that morning (Easter morning / attack on the highwaymen that afternoon)
  • Last minute change to the revenge plan: Malachi will drive because he looks more vulnerable to an attack due to his race and work clothes. (Randy is dressed in his uniform and would have looked suspicious.)
  • Revenge plan: Randy, Malachi, Bill McGovern, and Sam Hazzard have drilled holes in the side of the grocery truck, so that they can shoot through the holes to ambush the highwaymen.
  • The plan does not go according to plan, and Malachi gets shot during the attack. He later dies from his wound.
  • Randy and the men hang the one surviving highwayman in order to warn others from trying to attack Fort Repose.

Characterization:

  • Randy is a strong leader for his community.
  • Randy is democratic because he listens to those around him when he make his decisions.
  • Example: Randy listens to his friends and allows Malachi to drive the grocery truck despite the original plan.

Chapter 12

Key Events:

  • Dan starts to use hypnosis for anesthesia. He hypnotizes Ben Franklin when his appendix must be taken out.
  • August is the month of disaster, and the group runs out of salt and fish.
  • The salt problem is fixed when Dan remembers a diary entry from a Bragg ancestor about Blue Crab Run’s salt and crab supply.
  • Admiral Sam Hazzard leads the group expedition (trip) to Blue Crab Run, which he enjoys because he is once again the commander of a fleet and has a purpose/purpose of leadership in the community.
  • Peyton gets fishing advice from old Preacher Henry. No one else thinks of asking him for advice even though he was an expert fisherman in his youth. This reveals that the people of River Road have issues with ageism.
  • Ageism – discriminating/judging based on age
  • Peyton uses Florence’s goldfish to tempt the bass in the middle of the river.
  • When Randy returns from Blue Crab Run, the women are all crying upstairs. Each of them has a different reason for crying (Lib misses Randy; Helen had to spank Peyton; Florence misses her goldfish). Randy observes that women need a man around to keep order. This reveals the sexism of the time.
  • Sexism – discriminating/judging based on gender
  • Dan delivers the first post-Day baby, which is a sign of hope that civilization will again thrive in Fort Repose.
  • Peyton also becomes a hero when she discovers a secret room upstairs in the attic with useful supplies: music (phonograph), razors, lamps, a kitchen pot, and copper pipes.

Chapter 13

Key Events:

  • Dan falls in love with Helen, but she is still holding on to the hope that Mark might have survived the bombs.
  • The U.S. government drops paper leaflets from a helicopter over Fort Repose. The leaflets inform the citizens that government officials will be surveying the area to look for contamination. Townspeople start to use the leaflets as money, which is a sign that a stable economy is returning to Fort Repose.
  • The new capital of the United States is Denver, Colorado.
  • Paul Hart shows up in Fort Repose on the helicopter, and he offers to help Randy. Randy requests that he bring back medical supplies and a new pair of glasses for Dan.
  • Even though the United States won the war against Russia, the damage has already been done. Many cities across the U.S. are dealing with death and destruction.

Conflict

Man versus Man: when a character has a problem with another character

Man versus Nature: when a character has a problem with a force of nature such as cold, storms, animals, etc.

Man versus Self: when a character must make a decision about a problem or a struggle he is having with himself

Literary Devices

Metaphor – a comparison of two unlike things not using LIKE or AS

Theme – the central message or life lesson the author is trying to convey

Imagery– descriptive words/phrases that appeal to the five senses (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell)

Allusion – a reference to a famous person, place, event in history , or literary work