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

Short Answer Questions

1. Which of the following smells does Diana note as the first goes to visit Mary Sidney (224)?

2. In the novel, the term “pattens” refers to which of the following?

3. Which of the following does Matthew note is on the menu for the wedding feast?

4. Which of the following is among the differences from twenty-first century Sept-Tours Diana notes in sixteenth-century Sept-Tours?

5. With which of the following is Diana’s wedding gown embroidered?

Short Essay Questions

1. What explanation does Matthew give Diana for the dearth of witches, vampires, and daemons in Blackfriars?

2. What reasons does Diana note for “the most important rule” the Congregation enforces: “No fraternizing between otherworldly species” (27)?

3. What does Matthew use as file storage in his lodgings in Blackfriars?

4. What does Diana note regarding Elizabethan journal-keeping?

5. What bargain does Matthew strike with Elizabeth before departing for Prague?

6. Following her forspell, as Diana consults with the London witches regarding how to control her firedrake familiar, what does she realize about the commonalities between her magical and historical practices?

7. Upon learning of her pregnancy, what does Matthew assert to Diana a child needs (215)?

8. In what ways does Diana liken Marlowe to a troublesome child (31)?

9. What advice does Lord Burghley give to Diana when he first meets her?

10. What features does Diana note as typical of Elizabethan English writing?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Philippe comments that what Matthew “possesses is belief, which is quite different [from faith] and depends on the head rather than the heart” (136). Is the comment about the relationship between belief and faith accurate within the context of the novel? What in the text indicates that it is or is not? How does it do so?

Essay Topic 2

What narrative purpose does Philippe’s relation of the tale of Peleus and Thetis at Matthew and Diana’s nuptials (172-73) serve? What in the text indicates that it serves that function? How does it do so?

Essay Topic 3

What is to be made of the persistent associations made between Philippe and Classical myth, ranging from Diana’s comment likening him to “a Greek god” to Philippe’s recounting the story of Peleus and Thetis and his Hellenistic observances? What in the text supports that assertion? How does it do so?

(see the answer keys)

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