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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 happens when Katherine goes alone to the courtyard?

2. John exits the obligatory mass for Blanche and encounters an angry mob who claim that:

3. Why does Geoffrey send Philippa to stay at Kettlethorpe?

4. How does Katherine know the plague has contaminated Bolingbroke when she arrives?

5. Why does Hugh order Katherine to stay away from Nichola?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who takes Katherine from the pier to Hugh's lodgings when she arrives in Bordeaux? And how does Hugh receive this escort?

2. Why does the duke become the "target of an angry, puzzled England"?

3. Initially the duke sends Katherine away, only to suddenly call her back when she's visiting Hawise and the Pessoners. Do you think the duke was rash to turn to Katherine so quickly?

4. Describe Bolingbroke. How is it different from Kettlethorpe?

5. Who helps Katherine deliver her baby daughter, and what happens right after the umbilical cord is cut?

6. When Katherine leaves the convent where she has lived for the past five years, she is excited because she has yearned to experience life outside the Sheppey Priory walls. During the journey to the queen's court, and upon her arrival, what kinds of people does she meet who make her quickly realize how protected a life she has led?

7. What happens to the duke after he exits the commemorative mass for Blanche, and how does he react?

8. What does Katherine do during her pregnancy that leads the servants to believe she might be losing her mind?

9. Despite seeing the cross at the entrance to Bolingbroke that indicates the estate has been contaminated by the Plague, Katherine goes in. Why does she take such a risk?

10. When Katherine arrives at the dilapidated Kettlethorpe, she meets Gibbon. What is Gibbon's role at the manor, and who is he in relation to Hugh?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

By the time John Ball has led mobs of angry peasants into London, it's clear that there is a great disconnect between the royals and the serfs. The serfs are fed up with their lot and can no longer take it. Can you think of protest in American history that is similar to the peasant's protests against the poll tax and feudalism of medieval England?

Essay Topic 2

Is it ironic that in Bordeaux, while Katherine tends to her ailing husband and the duke declares his undying love for her, she says she cannot be unfaithful to Hugh? Talk about the internal, emotional tug-of-war that Katherine experiences when it comes to her love for the duke and her feelings toward her abusive husband Hugh.

Essay Topic 3

Anya Seton's "Katherine" is what is commonly referred to as historical fiction. In the "Author's Note", she says that she never distorted time, place or characters to suit her fiction. She did copious research in writing the story. She could have written about the famous Duke of Lancaster. "And yet Katherine was extremely important to English history". Why do you think she wrote this story? What do you think she wanted people to understand most about Katherine? About woman in medieval England? About English history?

(see the answer keys)

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