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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 does Alfrida do to surprise Edward shortly after Yuletide passes?

2. Who does Edward wed?

3. Who celebrates Edward's requiem mass?

4. What does Alfrida do to surprise Rumon shortly after Yuletide passes?

5. Who is the Queen of England?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Bishop Ethelwold visited Abbess Merwinna, what did he say happened to Alfhere?

2. How does Dunstan describe the scene that he came upon that led him to take Rumon to Glastonbury Abbey two weeks after the coronation?

3. Describe Rumon's appearance when he first meets Merewyn.

4. Why did Alfrida consent to marry Rumon when he asked her again the day after Christmas?

5. Detail Rumon's vision at Tre-Uther.

6. How does Elfled describe the dream she had to Merewyn while in Ramsey Abbey's garden on the feast of the Assumption?

7. Describe Caw when he is first introduced in Chapter 1.

8. What was Rumon's nightmare on Christmas night after Alfrida had made time to see him earlier in the day?

9. What kind of person is Earl Alfhere, Lord of all Mercia, when he is introduced in Chapter 3? What does he look like?

10. Describe Brother Finian.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the role of the Catholic Church in "Avalon?" How does the Church influence decisions made by the characters? How would the characters decisions be different if the Church didn't have such pervasive effect in Medieval society?

Essay Topic 2

Explore how gender affects the plot and character development in "Avalon." How are male and female characters portrayed? What are the roles of males and females in Medieval society both in England and Iceland? How did gender influence the choices that were available to the characters and the decisions that they made?

Essay Topic 3

When Rumon finds Merewyn in Iceland as an accepted member of society and happily married, Rumon may have viewed that as an act of betrayal by Merewyn. Later, Rumon admits to Merewyn that he betrayed his own values and beliefs when he killed two Vikings during a raid not to save the church's treasures in an act of heroism but symbolically killing Merewyn's Viking husband and father for them having taken Merewyn away from him. Analyze the nature of these betrayals and demonstrate how they contributed to the meaning of "Avalon" as a whole.

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