View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Pearce lose, that Merivel helps him find?

2. What happens while Merivel is trying to cure Katherine?

3. What date does the dance finally occur?

4. How does Merivel feel about his sexual affair with Katherine?

5. How does Merivel treat Pearce?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the staff of the hospital decide to do because of the plague?

2. How does Will feel about his master leaving?

3. How are the most insane patients treated?

4. What punishment did Finn get for arguing with the King?

5. How does Merivel react to Katherine's death?

6. Describe Edmund's dreams.

7. What is Merivel able to do at the funeral that he could not do while Pearce was alive?

8. Describe the music at the dance.

9. What news does the King give Merivel when Merivel answers the summons?

10. What does the King advise Merivel to do with his life?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Power is a defining element in relationships in the novel. Discuss power in the novel.

1) What gives characters power over others in the novel?

2) What gives the King power, and what are the limits of the King's power? How does the King use his power?

3) What kind of power does Merivel have as a doctor and as an associate of the King in the novel? How does he use this power?

Essay Topic 2

Both Merivel and other characters have meaningful dreams in the novel. Discuss the meaning of dreams throughout the novel.

1) Merivel dreams of the King. Is the King of Merivel's dreams the King he knows in life, or does the King represent something different in Merivel's dreams?

2) What does Merivel learn from his dreams? What could Merivel learn that he is not recognizing?

3) What meanings do other characters dreams have? Why does the Quaker hospital worker dream of God, and what do his dreams mean to him?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 687 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample