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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. Why was Taita made a eunuch when he was sixteen?
(a) He had stolen several jewels from Lord Intef's treasury.
(b) He had been unfaithful to Lord Intef and slept with a slave girl.
(c) He had refused to sacrifice to Lord Intef's favorite god.
(d) He had attempted to escape from the palace.

2. After leaving Thebes, where do Pharaoh and his court go?
(a) Elephantine Island.
(b) Safaga.
(c) The land of Cush.
(d) Memphis.

3. Why did Tanus name his bow Lanata?
(a) It was his mother's name.
(b) It was his first girlfriend's name.
(c) It was the Queen Mother's name.
(d) It was Lostris's baby name.

4. During her feast to celebrate Taita, what gift does Lostris try to give him?
(a) New physician's tools.
(b) His own house apart from hers.
(c) Three new slave boys.
(d) His freedom.

5. To what army regiment does Tanus belong?
(a) The Blue Crocodiles.
(b) The Black Hippo.
(c) The Golden Sun.
(d) The Scarlet Sign.

Short Answer Questions

1. What body parts are left inside a man when he is embalmed?

2. After Lostris disappears from the festivities on the shore, where does Taita find her?

3. How do the soldiers respond when Tanus orders them to put on the dresses of slave girls?

4. In order to thwart Pharaoh, what is Tanus's plan?

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

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. What does Taita learn from his friend Tiamat about the Shrikes? How does this explain the destitution of Egypt and the weakness of Pharaoh?

3. 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?

4. 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?

5. What is the immediate effect as Tanus begins to rout the Shrikes? How does this change affect people's loyalty to Pharaoh? What do you think might be the long-term effects of this new loyalty?

6. 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?

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. What scheme does Taita dream up to help Tanus engage the Shrikes in battle for the first time? How is this scheme something that perhaps only Taita would think of?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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