Foundation

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

PART 1

Reading Check

1. What is the name of the capital of the Galactic Empire?

2. Why is Hari Seldon nicknamed “Raven”?

3. Why is Dornick arrested?

Short Answer

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

1. Why is Trantor so vulnerable at the time when the novel begins?

2. What does Seldon’s research suggest about the state of the Empire? Why does the government object to this research?

3. What is psychohistory?

Paired Resources

“What Isaac Asimov Taught Us About Predicting the Future”

• The New York Times offers this article on the applicability of the fictional science of psychohistory in the 21st century world. (Subscription may be needed to view.)
• This article connects to the themes of Mitigating the Uncertainty Principle of Sociology and The Essential Elements of Civilization.
• Do you think that Asimov’s psychohistory can ever become a reality? Why or why not?

History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

• This is Edward Gibbon’s famous account of the fall of the Roman Empire, a book that heavily influenced Asimov’s Foundation trilogy. The first chapter (especially the introduction) presents an overview of Gibbon’s subject and methodology.
• The information in this resource connects to the themes of The Essential Elements of Civilization and Using Subtlety Instead of Force.
• How is Asimov’s Galactic Empire similar to the Roman Empire at its height? How is it different?

PART 2

Reading Check

1. When is Part 2 of the novel set?

2. Who is the mayor of the Foundation at the beginning of Part 2?

3. What are Anacreon’s demands?

Short Answer

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

1. What trade policy does the new king of Anacreon institute? Why does this represent such a serious threat?

2. Why does the Foundation’s Board of Trustees not want to take action against Anacreon?

3. Why does Anacreon really want to conquer Terminus?

4. What is the true purpose of the Foundation?

Paired Resource

“The Uncertainty Principle of the Social Sciences”

• This academic paper postulates the application of Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle to the social sciences.
• The ideas presented in this resource connect to the theme of Mitigating the Uncertainty Principle of Sociology.
• What is the Uncertainty Principle in the social sciences? How is this concept explored by Asimov in Foundation?

PART 3

Reading Check

1. What is Councilman Self Sermak’s strategy for dealing with the Four Kingdoms?

2. How do the Four Kingdoms view the technology that they acquire from the Foundation?

3. Who imprisons Hardin when he arrives at Anacreon?

Short Answer

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

1. How did the Foundation finally beat Anacreon? What does this success demonstrate about the way power is won and maintained?

2. Why does Anacreon want to conquer the Foundation?

3. How does the Foundation use religion to end Anacreon’s attack on the Foundation?

Paired Resource

Introduction: Religion and Empire, an Historiographical Perspective

• This introduction to a collection of academic articles discusses the relationship between historical empires and the Christian religion.
• This resource connects to the themes of The Essential Elements of Civilization and Using Subtlety Instead of Force.
• How is imperial power connected to religion?

PART 4

Reading Check

1. Why are Foundation guild traders banned from Askone?

2. What is Eskel Gorov’s mission on Askone?

3. What is the function of the machine that Limmar Ponyets gives to the Grand Master of Askone?

4. Whom does Ponyets maneuver into the position of new Grand Master of Askone?

Short Answer

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

1. Why does Ponyets argue that he should take over Gorov’s assignment?

2. How does Ponyets offer to prove that his machine will not violate the Askonian religion?

3. What is Pherl’s real reason for objecting to Ponyets’s device?

PART 5

Reading Check

1. Why is the Foundation surprised that the Korellian Republic managed to commandeer three of their ships?

2. Whom does Terminus City’s Mayoral Secretary Jorane Sutt back as the new Foundation mayor?

Short Answer

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

1. What is the assignment that Sutt offers Hober Mallow? Why does he select Mallow for this assignment?

2. Why does Mallow hand over the Foundation priest Jord Parma to the Korellians?

3. Why is Argo hesitant to trade with the Foundation?

4. Why does Mallow refuse to wage an all-out war against Korell?

Recommended Next Reads 

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov

• This collection features stories about the first robots and the issues that arise for the humans living beside them.
• Shared themes include The Essential Elements of Civilization.
• Shared topics include societal collapse and science fiction.
• I, Robot on SuperSummary

Dune by Frank Herbert

• The first of the Dune novels documents the rise of Paul Atreides as a unifying figure in a war-torn galaxy.
• Shared themes include The Essential Elements of Civilization and Using Subtlety Instead of Force.
• Shared topics include intergalactic conflicts and science fiction.
• Dune on SuperSummary