View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the first "easy sin" Rudolph confessed to Father Schwartz in Chapter 2?
(a) He stole.
(b) He took the Lord's name in vain.
(c) He lied.
(d) He coveted his neighbors possessions.

2. What does Rudolph tell Father Schwartz when he asks Rudolph if he has told any lies in his confession?
(a) No.
(b) I'm not sure.
(c) Yes.
(d) I can't say.

3. What does Rudolph do while waiting to see the priest at the start of Chapter 2?
(a) He tries to make himself look remorseful.
(b) He talks with the other parishioners.
(c) He draws inappropriate pictures.
(d) He stands near the confessional and eavesdrops.

4. Why did Rudolph's father tell him to go to confession three days before the narrative present?
(a) Rudolph had not been to confession in over a month.
(b) His father suspected Rudolph had told a lie.
(c) His father suspected Rudolph had had impure thoughts.
(d) His father suspected Rudolph has stolen from the church.

5. What does Father ask Rudolph about the kinds of thoughts he confessed to having?
(a) If he has told anyone else about them.
(b) How often he has had them.
(c) Why he finds them problematic.
(d) If he enjoys them.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where is Father Schwartz when Rudolph Miller comes to visit him at the start of "Absolution"?

2. Who is waiting to see Father Schwartz at the start of Chapter 2?

3. What is Father Schwartz first name?

4. What does Father Schwartz offer to Rudolph when he will not tell him his sin?

5. What scent makes Father Schwartz's heart ache as he walks the streets on Saturday night?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Father Schwartz's mood at the start of the story? How do you know?

2. Why did Rudolph's father tell him he had to go to confession three days before Rudolph came to see Father Schwartz in his home? Did Rudolph obey his father?

3. What made Rudolph uncomfortable as he sat waiting to confess at the start of Chapter 2?

4. What does Father Schwartz tell Rudolph he should have done when he was in the barn with the boy and the girl?

5. What "easy sins" did Rudolph confess to Father Schwartz in Chapter 2?

6. What plan does Rudolph come up with at the end of Chapter 2 to avoid having to take communion at church the next day?

7. What object in Father Schwartz's room reminds him of "gruesome labyrinths" (1)? Why does he stare at this object in the first place?

8. Who is Blatchford Sarnmenington? What happens when Rudolph thinks of him?

9. What sin did Rudolph finally confess to Father Schwartz after he "exhausted the minor offenses" (6)?

10. What questions does Father Schwartz ask Rudolph when he says he has committed a terrible sin?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 817 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample