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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 were the relations between Napoleon and the Jesuits and Jews?

2. How many group members are ordered into the room by the leader of the ceremony?

3. Belbo feels that real life is like what type of fiction?

4. What decisions did Lia make regarding her unborn baby?

5. Belbo thinks that Nazis were a branch of what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What story does Casaubon's group devise from Abulafia's output?

2. Why does Casaubon include a group not related to the Freemasons when constructing his time line?

3. What are Casaubon's speculations about Mr. Postel, in Chapter 88?

4. What does Belbo say about the believability of the Plan, in Chapter 100?

5. How does Casaubon reinterpret the message of the parchment Ardenti discovered?

6. What does Aglie want Belbo to transport for him?

7. What happens to Belbo, at the end of the novel?

8. What happens to Belbo after receiving the last piece of the Plan from Salon?

9. According to Casaubon's group, what were some of the Jesuits' accomplishments?

10. What happens during the trip Belbo takes with Lorenza?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many different views are expressed in the novel regarding occult knowledge; for example, Bramanti wants to disseminate occult knowledge because of the power inherent in it, whereas Garamond cares only for the profit that can be gained from selling it. Discuss the different views of occult knowledge and mysticism presented in the novel, and reasons for each of those views. Which one do you agree with most, and why? Which one do you think the author would agree with, and why? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 2

Diotallevi tells Belbo they made a mistake in devising the Plan, clearly believing that his own declining health is due to his involvement in it; Belbo is murdered because of it. Have there been other times when the pursuit of occult knowledge has led to someone's downfall? What was the reason for it? Do you think Diotallevi still would have fallen ill and died if it were not for his involvement in the Plan, or is he reading too much into his illness and death, as he and the others did with believing that the fictional Plan was true? Why? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the author's reasons for writing this novel. What can you infer about his views of the occult, based on this novel and the way it is presented? Do you think Casaubon is a character to whom he can relate? Why or why not? In what way do the author's views come out in the novel? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

(see the answer keys)

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