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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. Which of these is NOT one of the four types of people, according to Belbo?

2. Who is Ingolf?

3. Why does Casaubon have difficulty researching the group that interests him, in Chapter 27?

4. What is The Plan?

5. What Milanese bar do Casaubon and Belbo frequent?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does Aglie feel about Lorenza?

3. How did Casaubon, Belbo and Diotallevi meet?

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

5. How did the official end of the Knights Templar occur?

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

7. Why are the Rosicrucians so difficult to research, compared to the Knights Templar?

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

9. How did the Knights Templar become such a rich and powerful organization?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the pendulum as a symbol. What does it represent? Why is the novel named after it? What role does it play in the lives of the main characters? How does the author seem to feel about it? What is the significance of Belbo being hanged from it, and the double pendulum that creates? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 2

Belbo believes that the Plan is more believable, because of the bizarre nature of the story. Why does he feel that way? To what genre of literature does he compare real life, and why? What does the Plan have in common with real life, according to Belbo? Do you agree with his assessment? Why or why not? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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