View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Merton register his draft papers?
(a) He registers as a teacher.
(b) He registers as a novice in the priesthood.
(c) He registers as a non-combatant.
(d) He registers by following the example of Owen Merton.

2. What does Merton have to do upon joining the monastery?
(a) He must contact the draft board to inform them of his novitiate.
(b) He must take a physical examination to prove his endurance.
(c) He must confess the sins of his past to the Master of Novices.
(d) He must talk with others in the novitiate about their calling.

3. Where does John Paul die?
(a) In a hospital in Canada.
(b) At Gethsemani.
(c) On a train in France.
(d) In a plane crash in the North Sea.

4. What is Friendship House?
(a) A monastery guesthouse.
(b) A cottage in New York.
(c) A place to make a religious retreat.
(d) A place that helps poor residents in Harlem.

5. What does Merton feel about the war?
(a) Avoidance.
(b) Fear.
(c) Regret.
(d) Pride.

6. What did Merton and his friends grow in Olean?
(a) They all grew beards.
(b) They grew a vegetable garden.
(c) They grew their hair long.
(d) They grew wheat.

7. In Part 3, Chapter 3, what does Merton decide is the work he is meant to do?
(a) To become a priest in Rome.
(b) To write and teach.
(c) To own a newspaper.
(d) To work with the poor and pray.

8. What religious rule do the monks follow at Gethsemani?
(a) The Franciscan rule.
(b) The Dominican rule.
(c) The Trappist rule.
(d) The Carmelite rule.

9. What prompted Merton to confess his sins to the abbot?
(a) Merton's trip to Cuba.
(b) The abbot's forgiving demeanor.
(c) Merton's medical emergency.
(d) A discussion with Dan Walsh.

10. What is Merton looking for in his choice of a religious Order?
(a) He wants an Order that gives him solitude and silence.
(b) He prefers an Order that allows him to converse with lay people.
(c) He wants an Order that is located near his university.
(d) He wants an Order that will let him join the war effort.

11. What makes Merton unhappy while he is teaching?
(a) He wants to visit with his close friends, but they have been drafted.
(b) He wants to visit Europe, but doesn't have the money.
(c) He wants to go on retreat, but can't decide where to go.
(d) He yearns to be a priest, but is told he doesn't have a vocation.

12. What stops Merton from making his retreat at Gethsemani?
(a) He hears his brother is ill.
(b) He volunteers for duty in the infantry.
(c) He decides to stay at Friendship House.
(d) He receives a second draft notice.

13. Where is Olean?
(a) Upstate New York.
(b) Western Canada.
(c) Southern France.
(d) Kentucky.

14. What details of war make Merton uncomfortable?
(a) The experiences of the infantry.
(b) The destruction of monasteries.
(c) The hierarchy of the military.
(d) Bombing raids and the death of innocent people.

15. What does Merton think his motive should be for writing?
(a) To describe events from his travels.
(b) To make money and support himself.
(c) To glorify God and His teachings.
(d) To teach his students about the world.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where does Merton make a retreat during Easter?

2. What is Our Lady of Gethsemani?

3. What religious order does Merton first consider joining?

4. When does Merton plan to make a retreat at Gethsemani when writing to the Abbott?

5. What behavior characterizes Merton's life while he is teaching?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 629 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample