The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

This flexible-use quiz is designed for reading comprehension assessment and activity needs in classroom, home-schooling and other settings. Questions connect to the text’s plot, characters, and themes — and align with the content and chapter organization in the rest of this study guide. Use quizzes as pre-reading hooks, reading checks, discussion starters, entrance/exit “tickets,” small group activities, writing activities, and lessons on finding evidence and support in a text.

Depth of Knowledge Levels: Questions require respondents to demonstrate ability to: 

1. Recall and Understand Content (e.g., who, what, where, when) 
2. Apply and Analyze Ideas (e.g., how and why)

1. What sound announces the beginning of Omelas’s festivities? (short answer)

2. What is Omelas celebrating as the story begins?

A) a wedding

B) Independence

C) Harvesting

D) Summer

3. Which of the following is part of Omelas’s festivities?

A) a horserace

B) a pageant

C) a marching band

D) fireworks

4. Which of the following best describes the role music plays in the story?

A) It serves as an ironic counterpoint to the story’s events.

B) It captures the innocent happiness of a prior era.

C) It symbolizes emotion that eludes or exceeds description.

D) It reflects Omelas’s predominantly oral artistic tradition.

5. What literary device does