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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 Isaiah call himself during his prologue in "The Annunciation"?

2. What does the messenger do as Herod enters the scene? (Herod the Great")

3. To what does the third shepherd compare the current weather to? ("The Second Shepherds' Pageant")

4. Who closes the pageant "Abraham and Isaac"?

5. Who comes to tell the shepherds of Jesus' birth? ("The Second Shepherds' Pageant")

Short Essay Questions

1. From where did the editor obtain a copy of the manuscript to include "The Annunciation" in his collection of pageants?

2. When were the miracle plays officially associated with Corpus Christi Day?

3. In the "Second Shepherds' Pageant", what are the shepherds complaining about?

4. What does the editor state about the superiority of the Brome play ("Abraham and Isaac") over all others?

5. What warning does the Messenger give to the audience (readers and play-viewers alike) in "Herod the Great"?

6. From where do some of the features of "Herod the Great" derive?

7. Where, in the text of "Herod the Great", did a prophecy that Christ was born in a cave come from?

8. Why is the story of Mak included in this pageant?

9. In "Abraham and Isaac", why does God call for the sacrifice of Isaac?

10. What are biblical pageants?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose one of the "Medieval Miracle Plays" and compare and contrast the message that it contains to a similar message in Everyman. What are both texts trying to say? How do both texts deliver the message? Given that both texts obviously convey the same message, or it would not have been chosen for this essay, how do the texts differ? How are they similar?

Essay Topic 2

"Everyman, and Medieval Miracle Plays have many themes contained within them, and also that traverse between them. Discuss one of the following themes in detail: sacrifice, atonement, forgiveness, or loneliness.

Essay Topic 3

Rewrite one of the pageants in today's common language. How and in what ways would you keep the messages while bringing the text "current"?

(see the answer keys)

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