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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. Who watches Viola closely at her house?

2. Where does Cosimo carve his dog's name?

3. Why to thieves drag Gian de Brughi from his hiding place?

4. Who helps Cosimo with his plans?

5. Who does Cosimo's father send after him?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when Cosimo's father sends the Cavalier to capture him?

2. Describe the discussion about trees that takes place at the beginning of chapter ten.

3. What does Cosimo tell Biagio about their uncle's activities and what does he want to do about them?

4. Why does Cosimo begin writing to authors of books he likes?

5. What does Cosimo do to impress Viola?

6. Why does the Cavlier slip off the Baron's land occasionally and how does Cosimo help him?

7. What do Cosimo's parents want to know about the men Cosimo enlisted for his project?

8. Why is Cosimo's mother nicknamed the Generalessa?

9. With what important meal does the book open with?

10. What does Battista do to make Cosimo come home and what is the result of her action?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Cosimo holds ideals with more fervor than he does love.

1. What do you think is meant by this statement? Use examples from the book to support your answer.

2. What ideal that you hold means so much to you that you would give up love for it? Why or why not would you do that?

3. Do you think beliefs are worth giving up love for? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

While Cosimo never tries, he lives with an unapologetic conviction that life can be lived fully, selflessly, even nobly, in unbroken communion with nature.

1. What do you think this statement means? Use examples from the book to support your answer.

2. Do you think people in America today could live the kind of life Cosimo envisions, though not necessarily living in trees? Why or why not?

3. How do you think life in modern American would be different if most people believed the way Cosimo does?

Essay Topic 3

This is the chapter containing the recounting of the Baron's decline and eventual death. Sadness over the loss of his half brother, the absence of his daughter as she becomes the wife of a man with a terribly unpleasant family, the fact that Biagio's youth keeps him from being a satisfactory companion and loss of his dream of a noble lifestyle for his family all mean that he declines quickly.

1. Do you think emotional stress and loss can cause someone to sicken and die? Why or why not?

2. Do you think Cosimo should feel some responsibility for his father's death? Why or why not?

3. What do you think Cosimo could have done to help his father more? Use examples from the book to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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