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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 saint helped to establish and protect the Knights Templar?

2. Who checked out the book Casaubon was looking for at the library?

3. What is the topic of Casaubon's dissertation?

4. In what year were the Knights Templar arrested?

5. What is the name of the other publishing company Mr. Garamond runs?

Short Essay Questions

1. What idea does Mr. Garamond get from his meeting with Professor Bramanti?

2. What are the origins of the religious traditions of Brazil, according to Aglie's discussion with Casaubon and Amparo?

3. What is the Plan?

4. How did Casaubon, Belbo and Diotallevi meet?

5. What changed, in Italy, during the time that Casaubon was living in Brazil?

6. What do Casaubon and De Angelis discuss at their second meeting?

7. What information does Colonel Ardenti relay to Casaubon and Belbo?

8. How do Belbo and Casaubon become involved with the police, in Chapter 24?

9. Why do Belbo, Diotallevi and Casaubon meet at Pilade's in Chapter 13?

10. Why does Casaubon meet with Belbo and Mr. Garamond in Chapter 38?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Lia suggests that God, Synarchy and many other occult traditions in the novel are really all the same thing. Why does she suggest this? What do all belief systems and traditions have in common? Why does she feel that people need to have something in which to believe? Do you agree with her assessments? Why or why not? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the main characters' individual quests for knowledge and truth. How do Casaubon, Belbo and Diotallevi search for their version of the truth? What does each character, respectively, discover? What are the similarities and differences in each character's version of the truth? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 3

Diotallevi believes that permutations, and other searches for occult knowledge, should be performed manually, whereas Belbo and Casaubon want to use Abulafia to perform these tasks. What is Diotallevi's reasoning for his preference? How do Belbo and Casaubon respond to him? What is lost when a task is performed by a computer, instead of being performed manually? How does the lack of effort created by this method change the meaning or outcome of the task? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

(see the answer keys)

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