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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What color does Lostris wear to prove she is a virgin bride?
(a) Blue like water lilies.
(b) White like a pure heart.
(c) Red like fine wine.
(d) Gold like the sun.

2. How do the soldiers respond when Tanus orders them to put on the dresses of slave girls?
(a) They refuse until they know why.
(b) They laugh and protest.
(c) They refuse until Tanus threatens them.
(d) They treat the moment like a game.

3. Why does Taita implicitly trust Aton, the royal chamberlain?
(a) Pharaoh has spoken well of him.
(b) Aton has a good reputation in the palace.
(c) Aton also mourns at Lostris's marriage to Pharaoh.
(d) Aton is also a eunuch.

4. Why do Taita and Tanus kill six Shrikes on the road?
(a) They had killed a family of three.
(b) They had verbally threatened the two men.
(c) They had attacked the two men.
(d) They had stolen a donkey.

5. Where do Taita and Lostris go when they want to talk privately?
(a) In a skiff on the river.
(b) In her inner chamber bedroom.
(c) Into her water garden.
(d) Along the outer walls of the harem.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Taita conduct Pharaoh's tours of his treasuries?

2. How does Tanus get back into shape after his weeks of drinking and laziness?

3. When Tanus disappeared, to whom did he hand over his squadron and Pharaoh's seal?

4. How did Lostris first gain her knowledge of the outdoors?

5. What is the name of Taita's friend who gives him information and supplies prior to the battle with the Shrikes?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are Taita's first descriptions of Lostris? How are his emotions different from what the reader might expect of a eunuch? How does it help explain his character?

2. What will be the crowning moment of Pharaoh's life? What is Taita's reaction to this moment and how does the reaction seem contrary to Egyptian thought?

3. What power does Pharaoh's seal have? Why must a man acknowledge it, as Tanus does when Neter comes to arrest him? Is this seal a sign of power or of weakness?

4. Why is Lord Intef delighted to arrange the marriage between Lostris and Pharaoh? What plans does he reveal to Taita? How does even this brief interaction show Taita's unstable position in the court?

5. Why is Taita angered when he sees Lord Intef in Thebes? What does this reveal to the reader about Taita's character?

6. What is Tanus's reaction to the news of Lostris's coming marriage? What does this reveal about his character? Is this an admirable reaction?

7. What danger does Taita find in his basket of pomegranates and mangoes? What does this danger say about his place in society?

8. How does Taita foreshadow the coming marriage for Lostris? How does this affect the element of surprise within the novel?

9. What account does Taita give of the girl he loved when he was sixteen? How does his telling of it, half his lifetime later, show the changes he has gone through? Is he more cynical or more understanding of what happened?

10. What are Taita's emotions during and after the battle with the Shrikes? How do these emotions explain several facets of his personality? What does this say for Smith's ability to create a complex character?

(see the answer keys)

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