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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 is the name of the occult book series published by Mr. Garamond's vanity press?

2. Casaubon compares Aglie to whom?

3. Where is Agartha located?

4. Where does Aglie live?

5. What is the subject of the book Belbo wants Casaubon to work on?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What offer does Casaubon receive from Belbo in Chapter 37?

3. What do Salon and Casaubon discuss during their first reunion in the mine?

4. What is Casaubon doing, as the novel opens?

5. What do Casaubon and Belbo overhear when they go to visit Aglie?

6. What happens at the religious ceremony to which Aglie invites Casaubon and Amparo?

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

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

9. What does Belbo tell Casaubon during their phone call two days before the museum rendezvous?

10. What does Aglie tell Casaubon about Agartha?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Knights Templar are one of the main occult groups presented in the novel. Why is so little known about them? Why are they so central to a variety of beliefs and traditions? Why are scholars so interested in them after so many centuries? What information presented regarding the Templars is fact, and what is speculation? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the character of Lorenza, and her role as a symbol of knowledge. Why does Aglie call her Sophia? What does that name mean? How does she interact with the other characters, particularly Casaubon? How do her interactions with the other characters reflect their search for knowledge? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 3

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.

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