Exhalation

79 pages • 2 hours read

Exhalation

Fiction | Short Story Collection | Adult | Published in 2019

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Introduction

Before Reading

During Reading

After Reading

During Reading

Reading Questions & Paired Texts

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: “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate”

Reading Check

1. To whom is Fuwaad ibn Abbas telling his story?

2. What is the merchant’s name?

Short Answer

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

1. What does ibn Abbas learn after journeying to the past, and how does he feel about this realization?

Paired Resource

“Is Time Travel Possible?”

This article from Scientific American explores how Einstein’s theory of relativity allows for time travel, though not the kind we generally imagine.
This connects to the theme of Technology: Abuse and Responsibility.
How does the time travel in “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” align with the type of time travel described in the article? What might Chiang be saying about the purpose of time travel in his story?

Story 2: “Exhalation”

Reading Check

1. What anomaly causes unrest among the robots?

2. What scientific experiment does the narrator carry out?

Short Answer

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

1. What is the purpose of the narrator’s experiment, and what does he discover?

2. How are the results of the narrator’s experiment received by scientists, and what is the impact on the broader society?

Story 3: “What’s Expected of Us”

Reading Check

1. What does the Predictor prove is absent?

Short Answer

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

1. What is the narrator’s message to the reader, and why is this message important?

2. What is ironic about the way the narrator ends the story?

Paired Resource

“The Choice Is Yours: The Fate of Free Will”

This short article from NPR discusses fate versus free will not only in a philosophical sense but also in a neuroscience context.
This connects to the theme of Free Will.
What is free will, and how does this introduction to brain science impact your understanding of the concept? Why do some scientists think free will is an illusion? How does this information contribute to your reading of the story?

Story 4: “The Lifecycle of Software Objects”

Reading Check

1. Where did Ana work before she began working for Blue Gamma?

2. What is the name of Ana’s digient?

Short Answer

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

1. How does Ana’s commitment to the digients impact her romantic relationships, and what does this show about her character?

2. Why does Polytope require their employees to use InstantRapport, and why do Ana and Derek find this concerning?

Paired Resource

“In Isolating Times, Can Robo-Pets Provide Comfort?”

This article from The New York Times describes the role of robo-pets in providing companionship for the elderly during the Covid-19 pandemic.
This article connects to the theme of Parenting and Love.
Can artificial pets provide real comfort and companionship? How does this article offer some insight on what it means to be human? What connections can you make between this article and Ted Chiang’s stories?

Story 5: “Dacey’s Patent Automatic Nanny”

Reading Check

1. What is the name of the abusive nanny Reginald Dacey hired to care for his son?

2. What is the name of Lionel Dacey’s son?

Short Answer

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

1. How does Lionel respond to his son’s reaction to being weaned off the Automatic Nanny, and what does this show about Lionel’s priorities?

2. How does Edmund respond to being introduced to the artificial arms and recorded voice of the Automatic Nanny, and what does this show about his condition?

Story 6: “The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling”

Reading Check

1. At the beginning of the story, what does the narrator say “horrifies” him and his wife?

2. What is a lifelog?

Short Answer

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

1. What is the lifelog upgrade Remem, and why does the narrator have reservations about it?

2. What happens when the narrator tests out Remem, and what does his response say about his character?

Story 7: “The Great Silence”

Reading Check

1. What species is the narrator?

2. What is the message to humanity 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. Why do humans use Arecibo, and what does this say about humanity?

Story 8: “Omphalos”

Reading Check

1. To whom is Dorothea addressing the majority of the story?

2. Which person does Dorothea write to when she admits to having a spiritual crisis?

Short Answer

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

1. What is the tension between Dorothea’s belief in the world’s origins and her profession, and what is the result of this tension?

Paired Resource

“Why Carl Sagan Believed That Science Is a Source of Spirituality”

This article explores the relationship between spiritual ideology, science, technology, and meta-awareness, as well as Carl Sagan’s and Einstein’s beliefs that science and spirituality are inextricably linked.
This article connects to the theme of Faith and a Divine Presence.
Several of Chiang’s stories grapple with faith in the divine. How can science be a source of, or at odds with, spirituality? Can science and spiritual faith coexist? Why or why not?

Story 9: “Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom”

Reading Check

1. What is the name of the company that Nat works for?

2. Which friend did Dana betray?

Short Answer

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

1. What does Dana realize when she watches the video files that appear on her doorway, and how does this impact her?

Recommended Next Reads

Dune by Frank Herbert

This novel published in 1965 is set in a distant interstellar future in which planets are ruled by familial houses. It follows the story of young Paul Atreides as he gradually grows into a unifying force throughout the galaxy.
Shared themes include Climate Grief and Humanity’s Ecological Footprint, Faith and a Divine Presence, and Parenting and Love.
Shared topics include the environment, love, technology, and religion.
Dune on SuperSummary

The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin

This novella was first published in 1972. In Le Guin’s Hainish universe, the planet Athshe has been colonized by people from Earth (known as Terra) in order to log Athshe’s extensive forests. The peaceful Athsheans ultimately revolt against the Terrans.
Shared themes include Climate Grief and Humanity’s Ecological Footprint and Technology: Abuse and Responsibility.
Shared topics include the environment, social justice, empathy, communication, and connection with others.
The Word for World is Forest on SuperSummary

Reading Questions Answer Key

Story 1: “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate”

Reading Check

1. The caliph (Story 1, “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate”)

2. Bashaarat (Story 1, “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate”)

Short Answer

1. He realizes that the past did not change, so his wife still died, but he was able to learn from his journey and find closure. (Story 1, “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate”)

Story 2: “Exhalation”

Reading Check

1. The clocks are ringing off-time. (Story 2, “Exhalation”)

2. An auto-dissection of his own brain (Story 2, “Exhalation”)

Short Answer

1. The purpose of the experiment is to understand the way memory works in the brain. He discovers that everything they are is a pattern of air flow, and that this air flow is slowing, causing their brains to slow down as well. (Story 2, “Exhalation”)

2. At first the other scientists do not believe him, but eventually the evidence becomes widely accepted. This creates a panic within the narrator’s society around air use and misuse. (Story 2, “Exhalation”)

Story 3: “What’s Expected of Us”

Reading Check

1. Free will (Story 3, “What’s Expected of Us”)

Short Answer

1. The narrator tells the reader to pretend that they have free will, because civilization depends upon people behaving as if their decisions matter, even if they do not. (Story 3, “What’s Expected of Us”)

2. The narrator acknowledges that this warning will not alter the number of people who descend into akinetic mutism because no one has control over the effect of the Predictor. The narrator shows his own lack of free will by saying, “I had no choice.” (Story 3, “What’s Expected of Us”)

Story 4: “The Lifecycle of Software Objects”

Reading Check

1. She worked in a zoo. (Story 4, Part 1, “The Lifecycle of Software Objects”)

2. Jax (Story 4, Part 3, “The Lifecycle of Software Objects”)

Short Answer

1. Ana’s romantic relationships usually end after six months because her first priority is the digients, specifically Jax. This shows that she takes her responsibility as mother-figure to the digients very seriously, and that she cares about their wellbeing. (Story 4, Parts 1-4, “The Lifecycle of Software Objects”)

2. They are required to use InstantRapport because it will bond them with the digients, which will lead to more successful results. This is concerning because InstantRapport is essentially a drug, and an employer requiring it of an employee is unprecedented. (Story 4, Part 7, “The Lifecycle of Software Objects”)

Story 5: “Dacey’s Patent Automatic Nanny”

Reading Check

1. Nanny Gibson (Story 5, “Dacey’s Patent Automatic Nanny”)

2. Edmund (Story 5, “Dacey’s Patent Automatic Nanny”)

Short Answer

1. Lionel views his son’s inability to thrive without the Automatic Nanny as refuting the efficacy of his father’s invention, so Lionel has him institutionalized. This shows that Lionel’s priorities at this time are his father’s research and invention, rather than the wellbeing of his own son. (Story 5, “Dacey’s Patent Automatic Nanny”)

2. Edmund takes to the arms right away and responds to the recorded voice of the Automatic Nanny in ways that he had not responded before. This shows that rather than being feebleminded, he had simply grown attached to the nurturing of the Automatic Nanny and experienced a trauma when it was taken away. (Story 5, “Dacey’s Patent Automatic Nanny”)

Story 6: “The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling”

Reading Check

1. An essay that posited that it would no longer be necessary to teach children to read (Story 6, “The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling”)

2. A camera that video records the wearer’s life (Story 6, “The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling”)

Short Answer

1. The upgrade pulls up recorded memories without the wearer having to ask. The narrator fears that this will cause unnecessary conflict between people. (Story 6, “The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling”)

2. The narrator recalls a significant argument with his daughter and realizes that he actually said the things he had attributed to Nicole. This shows that he needs to take more responsibility for his past actions, and it prompts him to reach out and apologize to his daughter, which shows his desire to self-improve. (Story 6, “The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling”)

Story 7: “The Great Silence”

Reading Check

1. A parrot (Story 7, “The Great Silence”)

2. “You be good. I love you.” (Story 7, “The Great Silence”)

Short Answer

1. Humans use Arecibo to find and communicate with extraterrestrial intelligence. Their choice to look beyond Earth rather than trying to communicate with other living beings on their own planet shows how humanity’s ambitions can sometimes come at the expense of their immediate home. (Story 7, “The Great Silence”)

Story 8: “Omphalos”

Reading Check

1. God (referred to as the Lord) (Story 8, “Omphalos”)

2. Rosemary (Story 8, “Omphalos”)

Short Answer

1. Dorothea believes in creationism, but she is also an archaeologist who grounds her understanding of the world in science. She is able to reconcile the two, and it only strengthens her belief in God. (Story 8, “Omphalos”)

Story 9: “Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom”

Reading Check

1. SelfTalk (Story 9, “Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom”)

2. Vinessa (Story 9, “Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom”)

Short Answer

1. Dana is able to see alternate realities in which she does not betray Vinessa in high school, and in each one, Vinessa falls into a cycle of bad choices. This prompts Dana to forgive herself. (Story 9, “Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom”)