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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. What is Alec's mood when he returns home?

2. How does the Duchess feel toward Lord Ferris during chapter 19?

3. What happens to Lord Ferris's position as Dragon Chancellor?

4. Where has Michael been hiding out?

5. Who is missing from the Council when Richard's trial begins?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the Duchess and Michael's first night as lovers.

2. Describe the game played at the Duchess's party in Chapter 19.

3. What does Katherine think she recognizes about Alec?

4. What does the Duchess tell Katherine after Alec injures himself?

5. How does Lord Horn respond to Alec?

6. How does Lord Ferris see his relationship with the Duchess?

7. Where does Richard meet Katherine after the trial?

8. How do the men who capture Richard incapacitate him?

9. What does Alec give to the Duchess?

10. What allows Richard to win the duel in Chapter 16?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the setting of the novel.

1) How is the geographical layout of the town important to the novel? How do the different locations relate to and reveal different social classes?

2) What importance do different areas of Riverside have in the novel? What does the Old Market add to the story as a setting? What about the taverns in the novel?

3) What importance does the Duchess's barge have in the novel as a setting? What does the setting of the river add to the novel?

Essay Topic 2

The main characters of the novel are gay lovers. Discuss gender and sex in the novel.

1) How does the society of the novel view bisexuality and homosexuality? Are Alec and Richard accepted as lovers? Why or why not?

2) How do the different classes of the society view sex differently? How do they view promiscuity as well as homosexuality?

3) What role does the fact that Alec and Richard are the same gender play in the novel? Does it make a difference?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the novel's point of view.

1) Why does the novel move between different characters' points of view? What different perspectives does it give the reader?

2) What are the primary characters whose points of view are shown in the novel? Find a character who never takes the narrative point of view. Why is this character excluded?

3) How much does the reader's perspective change as the point of view switches between different characters or areas of the society?

(see the answer keys)

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