View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What happens when Taita approaches Lord Intef to explain Lostris's love for Tanus?
(a) He is imprisoned.
(b) He is whipped.
(c) Lord Intef listens and approves.
(d) Lord Intef threatens to kill Tanus.

2. What change to the festival pageant does Taita protest?
(a) The fact that Lord Intef now gets credit for the pageant.
(b) Pharaoh's place in the audience.
(c) The live execution of a thief.
(d) The removal of his main speech.

3. Contrary to Pharaoh's plans, why does Lostris set out to charm him?
(a) To win his favor for Tanus.
(b) To win his love and eventually marriage.
(c) To win freedom for Taita.
(d) To win favor for her father.

4. How do Egyptians treat their women in comparison to surrounding nations?
(a) They idolize their women.
(b) They are the cruelest.
(c) They are the most merciful.
(d) They largely ignore their women.

5. Where do Tanus and Lostris first sleep together?
(a) In his tent by the battlefield.
(b) In Taita's bedroom one afternoon when he is gone.
(c) In an empty hillside tomb.
(d) In the hunting cabin by the river.

Short Answer Questions

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

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

3. What deity is both Lostris's patron and symbolized by the hippopotamus?

4. To what army regiment does Tanus belong?

5. What does Lostris ask from her father for a wedding gift?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. 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?

3. What happens in the tombs during the three-day sandstorm? How does Taita reveal the deepest sadness that is in his heart? What does this say about his character?

4. What condition is Tanus in when Taita finally finds him? How is this condition similar to Lostris's desire for death on her wedding night? How is Taita able to save Tanus in much the same way he saved Lostris?

5. 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?

6. Describe the murder of Tod onstage during the festival pageant. What does Taita reveal about humanity, as he perceives it, during this scene?

7. When the people cry out to Pharaoh to give Tanus mercy from the death sentence, what does Pharaoh do? What leads to this decision? Does it show Pharaoh's mercy or his weakness?

8. 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?

9. How does Lostris interact with Pharaoh during their first three months of marriage? Though Smith does not say this is so many words, how does Pharaoh reveal his true character during this time?

10. What is the song that Tanus and his men sing during the thick of battle? What effect would this song have on the enemy?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,907 words (approx. 7 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample