city of ember job assignments

The City of Ember

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Assignment Day

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Assignment Day was the day children in Ember aged twelve graduate school and received their jobs. Lina Mayfleet got the job Pipeworks Laborer and Doon Harrow got the job Messenger, but they swapped jobs.

Lina Mayfleet

Character analysis, fast and fearless.

One of the first things we learn about Lina is that she loves to run. On Assignment Day, she pictures "herself running through the streets of the city in a red jacket." (1.7) This is her way of wishin' and hopin' that she'll luck out and become a messenger. Messengers get to run around the city all day delivering news, which sounds like her idea of heaven.

In fact, she loves to move so much, it's almost as though she has trouble sitting still. When she's waiting for her assignment, she's described as a "slender girl […] winding a strand of her long, dark hair around her finger, winding and unwinding it again and again. Sometimes she plucked at a thread on her ragged cape or bent over to pull on her socks, which were loose and tended to slide down around her ankles. One of her feet tapped the floor softly" (1.5). Yeah, this girl's fidgety. She needs to be out there moving and shaking—not cooped up inside doing nothing much at all.

Being a messenger makes Lina as happy as a clam. Yes, Lina is One Of Those People. You know who we're talking about—the people who actually like to run. She probably looks disgustingly fresh even after spending all day sprinting from one end of the town to the other. Quick, Adidas, sign her for an endorsement deal.

So she's fast. So what? Well, Lina's love for running connects her with the people of Ember. Since she's constantly delivering their messages, she gets to know the citizens in every corner of the city. And to her, "All of it was interesting. She loved finding things out, and she loved running. And even by the end of the day, she wasn't tired. Running made her feel strong and big-hearted, it made her love the places she ran through and the people whose messages she delivered" (2.56).

See, Lina's messenger job makes her care about Ember's problems in a way that she didn't before. It's impossible to be so involved in her fellow citizens' lives and not care about them, right? So when the seven-minute blackout goes down, Lina freaks out. Suddenly, everyone seems to be just a little bit in danger, and she notes that "Fear had settled over the city. Lina felt it like a cold chill. She understood now that Doon had been speaking the truth on Assignment Day. Ember was in grave danger." (6.3) It's thanks to her messenger job that Lina is able to change her mind and start struggling toward a solution to Ember's problems.

Color Me a City

Remember how Lina pictures herself wearing a red messenger's coat on Assignment Day? This shows us that she's really visually oriented. And we know our girl loves to draw. Her subject? Usually it's "a city that looked somewhat like Ember, except that its buildings were lighter and taller and had more windows." (2.30) Lina sees this other city in her imagination, and she feels compelled to draw it even though she knows it's made-up. ( Or is it? )

So it's no wonder then, that those brand spankin' new colored pencils at Looper's shop catch her eye: "Inside the box were at least a dozen colored pencils—red, green, blue, yellow, purple, orange. They had never been sharpened; their ends were flat. They had erasers. Lina's heart gave a few fast beats" (5.33). For a kid who loves colors and coloring to see a set of unused, totally new colored pencils in a place like Ember where everything gets reused and recycled? Well, let's just say it's kind of a big deal .

It's not just colors that get Lina going; she's interested in writing, too. When Poppy is chewing on the message from the Builders, Lina notices the way it's written: "It was the printing that sparked Lina's curiosity. It was not handwriting, or if it was, it was the neatest, most regular handwriting she had ever seen. It was more like the letters printed on cans of food or along the sides of pencils" (7.1). She's smart enough to realize that there may be more to this message than meets the eye, so she saves it and begins to work on deciphering it. Lina's a girl who doesn't let a thing pass her by. She notices every little detail, which is a fact that's sure to help her and Doon out later.

In fact, we're starting to think that Lina's pretty engaged with all of her senses—not just vision. At one point, she remembers how she used to visit the greenhouse with her father: "Lina had spent hours wandering along the gravel paths that ran between the vegetable beds, sniffing the leaves, poking her fingers into the dirt, and learning to tell the plants apart by their look and smell" (4.36). She likes to smell and touch plants, and she's curious about how to identify them using her different senses.

Unfortunately, Lina's keen senses are wasted in a place like Ember, where there's little light or color to be had. The contrast when she, Doon, and Poppy make it to the outside world is really striking: "The sky arched over them, higher than they could have imagined, a pale, clear blue. Lina felt as though a lid that had been on her all her life had been lifted off" (19.43). This is the moment our girl has been waiting for—a moment when the world gives her all new things to see, touch, hear, smell, and taste.

Lina is twelve, which in Ember means she's old enough to work. And while that might seem cruelly young to us, it's pretty handy for Lina because she has to support her little sister, Poppy. These two orphaned siblings live with their grandmother, but since Granny is starting to lose her marbles, Lina has to shoulder a lot of that responsibility.

We're not saying Lina's getting Most Responsible Big Sister of the Year Award, though. She is, after all, still only a kid herself. When she's looking at colored pencils to buy, she becomes so entranced by them that she accidentally loses Poppy. While she looks over the pencils, "a faint, dazzly feeling came over her" (5.43) and she completely loses track of her little sister.

Luckily Poppy is okay, but Lina's not: "She could have endured it if she'd been on her own. It was the thought of Poppy, lost, that she couldn't stand—and lost because she had been paying more attention to a box of pencils" (5.58) We'll say this for Lina: the fact that she knows she messed up proves her dedication to her little sister. But it also shows us that life in Ember is a lot more high stakes than it is elsewhere. When the lights can go out at any minute, you can't ever lose track of your loved ones—who knows when you'll find them again?

Still, Lina's only twelve, and it's asking a lot of a twelve-year-old to take care of a toddler and an older person at the same time. So we're gonna cut her some slack. The important thing is that she cares, right? And she does care a ton : "Lina loved her little sister so much that it was like an ache under her ribs." (2.24)

In fact, Lina loves Poppy so much that she just can't leave her behind when she and Doon embark on their journey out of Ember. And yeah, the journey will be dangerous, but how is staying in Ember with its failing light and dwindling food stores any better? So long as you keep in mind that Lina is just a kid, and an orphan at that, she has a pretty big heart and really is trying her best to take of the people she loves. Which is more than we can say for a lot of people, right?

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The City of Ember (Chapters 1 - 6)

7th - 8th grade.

44 questions

Introducing new   Paper mode

No student devices needed.   Know more

• 1. Multiple Choice Edit 1 minute 1 pt What was different about the city of Ember? The city was build on an Island  In the city the sky was always dark.  Everything in the city of was built of steel.
• 2. Multiple Choice Edit 1 minute 1 pt What happened on assignment day? Students picked a job from a small cloth sack The mayor of Ember assigned jobs to the students based on their skills Students were allowed to pick job assignments based on their talents.
• 3. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt Students were assigned to their jobs for ________ years. 1 2 3 4
• 4. Multiple Choice Edit 1 minute 1 pt Which one of the following job assignemnts weas considered a "Bad" job? Greenhouse helper Timekeeper's assistant Messenger Pipeworks Labourer
• 5. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt What condition was the City of Ember in? Brand new buildings Prospering with many new supplies Shortages and blackouts
• 6. Multiple Choice Edit 1 minute 1 pt Why did Doon want to trade jobs with Lina? Lina had an easier job? Doon had a broken leg and would not be able to run all over Ember with messages. Doon wanted to work on the generator near Pipeworks.
• 7. Multiple Choice Edit 2 minutes 1 pt The main idea of Chapter 1 "Assignment Day" is ______________________. Doon and Lina are such good friends that Doon will trade his good job for Lina's bad job The students of Ember find out what they will be doing for the next three years. The mayor of Ember with his vast, heavy build was a tyrant who loved to boss the students around.
• 8. Multiple Choice Edit 2 minutes 1 pt Which Statement from this chapter is an opinion? Doon sat in the second row with his shoulders hunched, his eyes squeezed shut and his hands clasped together. The mayor was a man with a gray face. The mayor should go on a diet so that he would not get out of breath so easily. On Assignment Day the classroom was silent.
• 9. Multiple Choice Edit 2 minutes 1 pt The builders said the people must live in the city of Ember for at least _______________ years before leaving. 5000 200 60 1000
• 10. Multiple Choice Edit 1 minute 1 pt ______________________ was to keep the instructions for leavign the city of Ember. The oldest person in Ember The commissioners The Mayor The Chief Builder
• 11. Multiple Choice Edit 2 minutes 1 pt Who does Lina live with? Grandma and Poppy Her mother Her father She is an orphan
• 12. Multiple Choice Edit 2 minutes 1 pt Why are Doon and Lina no longer friends? She laughed at him and he yelled at her She got the job that he had wanted He was jealous of how easily she could make friends Lina wanted the job that Doon gotten
• 13. Multiple Choice Edit 2 minutes 1 pt Which food in Ember is eaten on a daily basis? Peaches Corn Potatoes Soylent Green
• 14. Multiple Choice Edit 2 minutes 1 pt What surrounds Ember on all sides? Badger-moles The river A volcano Darkness
• 15. Multiple Choice Edit 2 minutes 1 pt About how old are Lina and Doon? Ten Twelve Fourteen Eighteen
• 16. Multiple Choice Edit 2 minutes 1 pt What was the job Lina got after making a trade? Pipeworks Time keeper Greenhouse Assistant Messenger

Students continue to go to school after beginning their job assignments.

• 18. Multiple Choice Edit 1 minute 1 pt What kind of shop does Lina's grandmother own? A materials shop A flower shop A small clothing shop A tool shop 
• 19. Multiple Choice Edit 1 minute 1 pt How did Lina lose her mother? She got sick and died She died during childbirth She died while working in pipeworks She died from old age
• 20. Multiple Choice Edit 1 minute 1 pt Why don't people ever leave the City of Ember? They are scared of the darkness of the  Unknown regions They like the life they are living now The City of Ember is the best city to live in. The mayor threatened the people to stay
• 21. Multiple Choice Edit 1 minute 1 pt The loud sound that Doon heard when he first entered the tunnels was: The generator The river Workmen with tools
• 22. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt What was unusual about the sequence of events in Chapters 2 and 3?   Chapters 2 and 3 were the same day from the prospective of two different characters. Chapter 3 was a flashback to an earlier time in the city of Ember. The events in Chapter 3 took place 240 years after the events in Chapter 2
• 23. Multiple Choice Edit 1 minute 1 pt How was Doon to find his way around the Pipeworks? Doon used a compass. Signs were painted throughout the Pipeworks.  All workers were supplied with a map.
• 24. Multiple Choice Edit 1 minute 1 pt Doon calculated that he was _____ feet underground.  10 5   30 50
• 25. Multiple Choice Edit 1 minute 1 pt During his lunch break Doon _______.     Went to see the generator Meet friends a few tunnels down Went out of the tunnels to find Lina
• 26. Multiple Choice Edit 1 minute 1 pt Doon had a talent for _______.       Singing Mechanics Bookwork Working with people
• 27. Multiple Choice Edit 45 seconds 1 pt Doon's father made his living by _____________ .       Delivering vegetables Guarding the mayor Repairing the generator Selling small parts

What hobby does Doon have?

Studying insects

Collecting bottle caps

Drawing pictures of people

• 29. Multiple Choice Edit 1 minute 1 pt Why was Granny tearing up the couch?     Granny was looking for something that had been lost. Granny's money had fallen into the couch and she was trying to get it out. Granny wanted to use the stuffing to make a blanket for Poppy.

What new job was recently created in Ember?

Daycare workers

Caregivers for the elderly

Trash sifters

• 31. Multiple Choice Edit 1 minute 1 pt What types of foods grew in the greenhouses?   Tropical fruits Wheat and grains Vegetables
• 32. Multiple Choice Edit 1 minute 1 pt What happened to Sadge? Sadge went outside the lighted areas of Ember and became frightened. Sadge fell off the ladder while working on the sprinkler system in the greenhouse and cut his hands. Sadge ran into a wild animal in the trash heap and was hurt trying to escape from it.
• 33. Multiple Choice Edit 1 minute 1 pt Why were the people in Ember in such a panic?   The people of Ember were afraid of the wild animals that lived outside the city. The people of Ember were running out of supplies. The people of Ember were afraid the city would flood with the next rain
• 34. Multiple Choice Edit 1 minute 1 pt Lina dreamed of ______________.     Singing in a traveling band Her parents coming back home A bright city Working in the greenhouses

What did Mrs. Murdo do to help Lina's family?

Mrs. Murdo cleaned and cooked for Lina, Granny, and Poppy

Mrs. Murdo took Granny to the market.

Mrs. Murdo helped Lina deliver the messages.

Lina saw Sadge...

painting his front door.

selling colored pencils at his shop.

yelling to the people of Ember about the Unknown Regions.

The man selling the pencils, Looper, was familiar to Lina because...

He worked in the greenhouse with Clary.

He was the man who used Lina to send a message to the mayor.

He was Doon's brother.

He went to school with Lina and Doon.

How many pencils did Lina buy?

None. They cost too much.

One - was all she could afford.

Two - she spent too much but just had to have them.

All of them - the dozen or so that were in the box.

While buying the pencils Poppy...

wandered out of the shop.

broke the vase.

chewed on the blanket.

While looking for Poppy...

the lights went out.

Lina fell and cut her hands.

Lina broke her pencils when she ran into the stone wall.

A man stole Lina's pencils.

• 41. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt 8. How long was the blackout?   7 minutes 3 minutes 2 minutes 10 minutes
• 42. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt After Mayor Cole's speech the people of Ember felt ________.   Angry Calm content excited
• 43. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt When Lina got home from the speech Granny was _____.   a)  b) c)  Cooking potato soup   Nowhere to be seen   Going through the closet 

Poppy found ______. Granny's left shoe

Lina's lost drawings

A box with printed paper inside

Photographs of their mother and father

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