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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 decree does the Pope give Francis?

2. What would we term Taddeo's field of study today?

3. What does Francis ask forgiveness for during confession?

4. What is Leibowitz's goal in the priesthood?

5. What reason does the Abbot give for disbelieving the story of the pilgrim?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the pilgrim.

2. What does Cheroki's disbelief in Francis's find tell the reader about the rarity of the fallout shelter and relics?

3. Why is the find of Emily Leibowitz's skull important to the case for the canonization of Leibowitz?

4. Why are a shopping list and casual notes treasured finds for Brother Francis?

5. Describe the Poet's living conditions.

6. Why were papers burned during the Simplification?

7. Why doesn't Francis merely tell the abbot what he wants to hear?

8. What is Taddeo's attitude toward the clergy and the Church?

9. What did Leibowitz do after the Flame Deluge?

10. Why does the Church have a Devil's Advocate?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare the technology of Kornhoer's invention with Zerchi's malfunctioning APLAC. What do these two machines say about the respective cultures that develop them? Why are they developed? How do the characters in the novel feel about the machines? How do these machines exemplify the positive and negative aspects of technology?

Essay Topic 2

What is the nature and meaning of ritual in the novel? What is the purpose of the elaborate ritual of canonization, although the Pope and Vatican are poor? What are the rituals of the monks, and do they serve to preserve knowledge or to hide it? What is the purpose of Francis' ritual fast in the desert? Are these and other rituals in the novel effective? What happens when ritual loses its original meaning?

Essay Topic 3

The novel presents dreams, impressions, and myths of the characters, such as the abbot's dream about Rachel, Joshua's impression of the possible snake in the garden, Zerchi's hallucinations as he is dying, and myths about the Great Deluge and Leibowitz. How can the reader and the characters tell the truth from human perception or myth? In what way, or ways, are these perceptions and myths real? In what way or ways are they false?

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This section contains 831 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample