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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 kind of organization was the Compagnia di San Luca that Leonardo joined in 1472?

2. In the early 1490s, Leonardo undertook the task of learning what language?

3. By age five, Leonardo lived primarily with whom?

4. How was the model of Leonardo's horse monument destroyed in 1499?

5. What was the name of Leonardo's mother?

Short Essay Questions

1. What major difference does the author depict when comparing and contrasting Leonardo's personality with Leon Battista Alberti's personality?

2. What language did Leonardo decide to teach himself in the early 1490s and what was the result?

3. How did Johannes Gutenberg's invention of the printing press in 1452 affect Leonardo's life and work?

4. What qualities of Leonardo's character are discussed as qualities that would have made him a misfit in any place besides Florence?

5. What did Leonardo mean when he wrote, "He who has access to the fountain does not go to the water-jar" (176)?

6. How did the books included in Leonardo's personal library inventory in 1492 represent the extreme diversity of his interests?

7. What does Walter Isaacson say was the main lesson he tried to take from Leonardo's life in order to apply it to his own life?

8. In what way did Leonardo's illegitimacy grant him certain freedoms?

9. When Leonardo joined a competition of architects, what was the assigned task for the contest?

10. What information was recently discovered in 2017 about Leonardo's birth mother?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Walter Isaacson utilize irony within the text? Discuss at least three uses of irony within the book and explore each instance's connection to larger themes contained within the narrative.

Essay Topic 2

What is the significance of Leonardo's resignation from the service of Cesare Borgia? How does this event connect to the narrative's overarching themes?

Essay Topic 3

How is the theme of eccentricity depicted within the narrative of Walter Isaacson's book?

(see the answer keys)

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