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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 is the name of the medicine that Merivel gives the bird when it is sick?

2. What does Nell tell Merivel will happen to him?

3. Who is with Merivel when Celia arrives?

4. What does Merivel do while he's hiding in his room?

5. To ahat does Merivel compare his stomach freckles?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Celia act during her meetings with Merivel before the wedding?

2. What does Merivel think about when he visits Kaw?

3. What does Merivel tell Finn when Finn asks for the favor?

4. What is the distinction between the Idle and the Impotent?

5. What is Merivel's reaction to the letter about Rosie?

6. How does Merivel get into Celia's room?

7. Explain the metaphor in the story that Pearce tells Merivel.

8. What does the King's court like about Merivel?

9. What does Merivel find when he returns home?

10. Who has Celia invited to the house, and why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss fate in the novel.

1) Is Merivel in control of his own destiny? How is Merivel governed by fate in the novel?

2) What determines the fates of the rich and the poor in the novel? Why do characters seem to lack control over their own destinies?

3) Discuss Merivel's rescue of the woman from the burning building. Is Merivel a hero for having saved the woman? How is this incident governed by fate? How does Merivel benefit from it?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the different settings in the novel.

1) How does the King's palace differ from how the majority of people in the kingdom live? What significance is there to the Psychic Garden or to other areas of the King's palace?

2) What does Merivel's decoration of his manor indicate about his own personality? Why does the manor give Merivel a position as Lord and as Overseer of the Poor? What other significance does the manor have?

3) What does the setting of the mental hospital add to the novel? What significance do the hospital's gates have?

Essay Topic 3

In the novel, responsibility is an important theme. The King holds the responsibility for his kingdom and its people. Parents hold responsibility for their children; lords hold responsibility for peasants and servants. People are responsible for their animals. Discuss responsibility in the novel.

1) What is the relationship of power and responsibility in the novel? What are the consequences for the powerful of neglecting their responsibilities?

2) How do the characters in the novel take responsibility for their own lives? To what extend are the characters capable of being responsible for their own lives and destinies?

3) When and why do characters take responsibility for others?

(see the answer keys)

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