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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 does Sister Herluva run to find Merewyn?

2. At the beginning of Chapter 7, where is Merewyn living?

3. Why is Gunnar disgusted when he goes to the Abbey?

4. When Rumon meets Breaca of Uther, what does he notices?

5. Why does Rumon leave Alfrida's castle at noon and return to his own lodgings?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why was the thought of Merewyn painful for Rumon as he talked to Dunstan outside his guesthouse rooms at Glastonbury Abbey?

2. How did Rumon decorated his rooms in the Glastonbury Abbey guesthouse during the 2 years he lived there?

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

4. What does King Edgar look like when Rumon and Merewyn first encounter him?

5. Describe Merewyn when she first encounters Rumon.

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

7. Why did Rumon leave his homeland?

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

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

10. What did Rumon say to Merewyn in his letter that he sent to her at the Abbey?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Select a moment or scene in "Avalon" that you find especially memorable. Identify the passage, explain how it is used in the novel, and analyze the reasons for its effectiveness.

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

How does the title of the novel, "Avalon," relate to the novel itself? Is the title descriptive? A statement of the theme? Or something else altogether? Why Did Seton choose the title "Avalon" over other possibilities? Analyze the relationship between title and novel, paying attention to the reasons that the title highlights something that the Seton wants readers to know or come to understand about the novel.

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