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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 deity is both Lostris's patron and symbolized by the hippopotamus?
(a) Horus god the wind.
(b) Hapi goddess of the Nile.
(c) Horus god of the Nile.
(d) Seth god of the underworld.

2. Why does Taita conduct Pharaoh's tours of his treasuries?
(a) The priests could not answer Pharaoh's questions.
(b) Pharaoh remembered him from the pageant and requested that he lead.
(c) Lord Intef could not answer Pharaoh's questions.
(d) None of the answers is correct.

3. How much time is Tanus given to restore order to the Upper Kingdom?
(a) Two years.
(b) One year.
(c) Ten years.
(d) Two months.

4. What does Lostris ask from her father for a wedding gift?
(a) Five thousand gold rings.
(b) Tanus.
(c) Taita.
(d) One hundred feddan of prime land.

5. Why does Shufti take so long to retaliate against Tanus and his band of men?
(a) He is waiting for nightfall.
(b) He is waiting for orders from his captain.
(c) He is waiting for Tanus's caravan to tire.
(d) He is gathering over a thousand of his own soldiers.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the pageant duel with Rasfer, why does Tanus not kill Rasfer?

2. After Taita witnesses the lovers' kiss, what does Lostris demand of him?

3. What change to the festival pageant does Taita protest?

4. Why did Taita help Tanus enter the army?

5. Why is Taita valuable to Lord Intef?

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. Throughout this first section, what evidence does Taita give that he is a favored slave? What was the cost of this favor?

3. 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?

4. When Taita works the Mazes for Pharaoh, what does he see? Why does he lie to the king about what he sees? What might the effect have been if he didn't lie?

5. 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?

6. What is the significance in the fact that Tanus is nicknamed Akh-Horus? Is it important that Hui, a boy who defected from the Shrikes in exchange for his life, gives him this name?

7. 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?

8. Explain Tanus's bow Lanata. How does this story about the weapon reveal Tanus's character?

9. In the days leading up to Lostris's wedding, Taita is not allowed to go near her. Even during the wedding ceremony, he stands at the back of the crowd and cannot see much. What is the literary significance of Taita's inability to see Lostris? How does this relate to Smith's silence about Tanus's reaction?

10. 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?

(see the answer keys)

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