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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 Simon do with the organization he builds?

2. What does Simon ask Llewelyn for?

3. Who is the head of the barons who are frustrated by the Lusignans?

4. What does Simon have the chance to do, but turns it down?

5. What happens when the King agrees to Simon's demands?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Simon de Montfort accused of by the lords of Gascony?

2. What is Edward's role in the opposition between Simon and King Henry?

3. Describe the fight that leads to Henry's surrender.

4. Why doesn't Nell de Montfort turn over castles as required by treaty, and what happens to resolve this issue?

5. What complications are caused by King Louis' mediation?

6. Why do Owain and Davydd invade Gwynedd?

7. How is Simon's army nearly wiped out?

8. What problems does Simon confront after his victory over Henry?

9. What brings Simon to renounce his loyalty to King Henry?

10. How does Edward raise an army?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What do you think is the heart of Falls the Shadow for Penman? Is it the medieval lifestyle? The political struggle? The warfare? The emergence of an effective government from the monarchical government?

Essay Topic 2

Using specific instances from the text, explain the symbolism of the book's title. What is the shadow, and where does it fall? What effect does the title have on the book? How does is guide the reader's expectations? How does the book work against the title?

Essay Topic 3

One of the challenges in historical fiction is to relate the general sweep of history in a way that retains the feeling of personal experience for the people involved in that history. How does Sharon Kay Penman manage to keep the personal and the historical within sight of each other? Use specific instances from the book.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 689 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample