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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 royal title did Borse hold when he commissioned Francescho to help paint a fresco?

2. Francescho says that Ferara is "the best place for brickmaking" (21) due to the clay that can be gathered nearby which body of water?

3. Which artist's works are considered to be "showy" (8) by Francescho?

4. How old was "the pickpocket" (113) at the time he was hired by Francescho?

5. In what capacity did the boy Francescho called "the pickpocket" (95) go to work for Francescho?

Short Essay Questions

1. What insights does Francescho provide into the subversive elements of her artwork?

2. Describe the first meeting between Cosmo and Francescho.

3. What crime did Cosmo likely commit the night after his first encounter with Francescho?

4. Characterize Francescho's relationship with the Falcon.

5. For what reason did the protagonist of Eyes have need of a new name?

6. In what way is the novel How to Be Both a piece of interactive fiction?

7. What story does Francescho recount about "the infidel worker" (83) whose likeness she had eventually painted into Borse's fresco?

8. What quality does Francescho "sense" is "central to" the "nature" (84) of the young woman whom she observes throughout the narrative?

9. Describe Francescho's reaction to an aspect of technology in the modern world.

10. What is the setting of the novel section entitled Eyes? Include in your answer the era, location, and situation depicted in the opening passages of How to Be Both.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the instances of irony within the narrative of How to Be Both and analyze Smith’s purpose for including each instance you discuss.

Essay Topic 2

Look carefully at the passages of How to Be Both that describe the close relationship between decay and crystallization. What is Smith’s purpose for discussing at length the nature of this connection?

Essay Topic 3

Why does Smith provide a first-person narrator to provide the perspective of Francesco, while utilizing a third-person narrator to represent George’s voice? How do these choices serve the purposes of the text? Discuss how Smith’s choice of point of view helps to advance the treatment of at least three particular themes over the course of the text.

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This section contains 1,463 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample