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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What happens to Katherine during the birth of the baby?

2. How long is Merivel confined to bed?

3. From what symptoms is Pearce suffering?

4. How has Merivel changed physically at Whittlesea?

5. Where does Merivel meet Finn, after not seeing him for a long time?

Short Essay Questions

1. What prompts Katherine to try to hang herself?

2. What punishment did Finn get for arguing with the King?

3. How does Merivel react to Piepold?

4. What does Pearce wonder about flowers?

5. How does Merivel feel about Bath?

6. How are the most insane patients treated?

7. Describe the signs that end up hanging outside Frances Elizabeth's house.

8. Describe Edmund's dreams.

9. How does Merivel react to Katherine's death?

10. What news does the King give Merivel when Merivel answers the summons?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The novel is set in the historical period of the Restoration in England. Discuss this historical setting and the relationship between the novel and history.

1) Why did the author choose to set a novel in this time period and name the novel after the historical period?

2) How do historical events such as the fire in London and the plague affect the story?

3) How does your knowledge of things like modern medicine affect how you view the characters and what they do in the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss poverty and social class in the novel.

1) What different social strata exist in the novel? What determines what social class the people in the novel live in?

2) What allows characters in the novel to change social status, for better or worse? Why?

3) How does Merivel treat people of different social classes?

Essay Topic 3

Merivel is the central character of the novel, and much of the novel revolves around Merivel and his personal perceptions and growth. Discuss Merivel as a character.

1) What are Merivel's primary personality traits at the beginning of the novel? How did those traits develop?

2) How does Merivel change over the course of the novel? How does living at the mental hospital and among the poor in Cheapside affect him?

3) What is Merivel's personality like at the end of the novel? In what ways is he still the same, and in what ways has he changed?

(see the answer keys)

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