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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. Why doesn't Mrs. Grayles go to Father Selo for confession?

2. What does the APLAC do to Zerchi's data?

3. To what does Taddeo compare the Poet?

4. Why does Taddeo prefer the fragile original documents to the copies?

5. What might prevent Joshua and the monks from taking off in their spaceship?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the likely reason Taddeo does not arrive on time at the monastery?

2. What is Armbruster's attitude toward books and toward Taddeo's studies?

3. What is the purpose of Quo peregrinaqtur grex?

4. Why do the Poet's jokes cause so much upset at the dinner?

5. How does Mad Bear view Taddeo's party?

6. What is Paulo's primary concern at the onset of war?

7. Why does Paulo feel like a shoemaker in a village of shoemakers?

8. Describe Zerchi's dream about Rachel.

9. What power does New Rome give Joshua's colony, in the event of the destruction of the Earth?

10. What might lead the reader to believe Benjamin's story about his age?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the Old Jew.

Part 1) What is the Old Jew's true identity? Can you make a case for more than one possible identity? What evidence is there for his identity?

Part 2) What role does he play in the story? Why is he in all three parts of the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the novel, various characters take on tasks they find worthwhile, devoting their time and energy to them. Francis spends his life making an illuminated version of the Leibowitz blueprint. Taddeo spends his life trying to understand physics and recreate the science of the past. Hannegan spends his life trying to conquer neighboring areas and expand his rule. Kornhoer attempts to recreate the technology of electric light. Zerchi fights to stop euthanasia of terminal radiation poisoning patients, while Dr. Cors tries to help patients by either treating them or recommending euthanasia. These are just a few examples; feel free to choose your own examples from the novel.

Choose two characters and their respective tasks to compare and contrast. What do the characters hope to gain from their work? What do others think of their work? What do they accomplish, and how does it live on in the future?

(see the answer keys)

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