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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who from the Bible are contrasted by the preacher?
(a) Pontius Pilate is contrasted with christ.
(b) Adam and Eve are contrasted with Christ.
(c) Pharaoh is contrasted with Christ.
(d) Moses is contrasted with Christ.

2. Where does Stephen's father want to send him?
(a) to Australia
(b) the university
(c) to New York
(d) to a trade school

3. What interpretation does Stephen give to his dream and visions of beasts in the field?
(a) That he will find salvation in a field.
(b) That it is the hell awaiting him: bestial and foul.
(c) That he will reincarnate as a beast.
(d) That anyone looking at him will know his sins.

4. What does Stephen do after running in ecstasy along the beach?
(a) runs home to tell his mother
(b) lies down and falls asleep
(c) returns to look for the girl
(d) goes home to write poetry

5. What does the preacher say is available to the living to spare them from this everlasting torment?
(a) unqualified absolution
(b) candles and incense
(c) repentance
(d) vows

6. What strikes fear into the sinner, but is a blessed moment for the believer?
(a) confession
(b) death
(c) the divil
(d) the Eucharist

7. What begins to needle him and cause minor disruptions to his devotions?
(a) the teasing of other boys
(b) images of Emma in his head
(c) imperfections in himself
(d) remembering the girl on the tram

8. How does Stephen now view his life?
(a) as a hopeless drifter without proper education
(b) as a complete waste from which he learned nothing
(c) as an escape from the old path and embarking on a new one
(d) as a drudge worker in a heartless world

9. What do the sermons do for Stephen?
(a) They pierce Stephen's clouded mind and sin-numbed soul.
(b) They give him a good laugh.
(c) They put him to sleep.
(d) They make him reject the teaching of the Church.

10. After the confession, how does Stephen feel?
(a) afraid he will die before receiving holy communion
(b) euphoric and filled with grace
(c) happy to tell everyone his joy
(d) glad that it is over but feeling the same

11. To what does Stephen devote each different day of the week?
(a) to recruiting new students to join him
(b) to studying a different section of the catechism
(c) to a different religious facet or figure
(d) to physical exercise

12. What does Stephen discover when he returns home from the director's office?
(a) The family is being forced to move again.
(b) Uncle Charles has died.
(c) His father is in the hospital.
(d) They are all excited about his becoming a priest.

13. How does Stephen come to view all of creation?
(a) as the evolution of the species
(b) as an expression of God's love and power
(c) as an accident of nature
(d) as a reminder of the lust in the world

14. When the rector enters the classroom, what does the boy behind Stephen want him to do?
(a) to ask the rector a difficult question
(b) to put an apple on the rector's desk
(c) to lead a salute to the rector
(d) to pretend to plug up his ears

15. How does Stephen begin to see his mother's faith?
(a) as being disloyal toward him
(b) as fading away with the family trials
(c) as being the cause of his father's failures
(d) as being insincere and empty

Short Answer Questions

1. Alone in his room, what does Stephen see when he closes his eyes?

2. What worries Stephen about his devotions?

3. How does Stephen react to the announcement of the rector?

4. What begins to take on an attractive appearance to Stephen?

5. How could Stephen's thoughts after leaving the director's office be described in one word?

(see the answer keys)

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