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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 does Merivel tell Celia the King wants her to learn?

2. What reply does Merivel get from the King?

3. Who is with Merivel when Celia arrives?

4. Who does Merivel say will judge Celia's progress?

5. What does Merivel end up doing at the pub?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Merivel imagine the representation of his astrological sign?

2. What does Merivel tell the King after drinking the tampered wine?

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

4. Describe what Finn tells Merivel about the present Finn brings.

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

6. How does Merivel convince Lady Bathurst that she has nothing to worry about regarding Celia?

7. Why can't Merivel do what Finn asks of him?

8. Why does Degeulasse de Gourly come to visit Merivel?

9. What is wrong with Lady Bathurst's husband?

10. Describe what Pearce tells Merivel about the present Finn brings.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Knowledge is an important element of the novel. Discuss this element in the novel.

1) Merivel lacks modern knowledge about medicine. How does this affect his actions and his perceptions? How does it affect his ability to help people or control the world around him?

2) The value of the "nightingale" depends on knowledge about the bird. How does lack of knowledge affect the characters' reactions to the bird and their perceptions of value?

3) How does knowledge of other human beings affect their interactions and perceptions of each other in the novel? What knowledge does Merivel lack about the King? What knowledge does Katherine lack about Merivel?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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