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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. In Chapter 49, why does the church come down on the convent?

2. Why does Alessandra say she is writing down her sins in Chapter 49?

3. How does the painter find Alessandra in the convent?

4. Why does Alessandra ask her mother about her engagement in Chapter 25?

5. What does Alessandra do after Plautilla visits in Chapter 35?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Alessandra react to the snake tattoo she sees on the man in the market?

2. What makes Alessandra's life in the convent less pleasing to her?

3. What does Savonarola do when the plague comes to Florence?

4. Why does Cristoforo want Alessandra to kick the painter out of their house in Chapter 34?

5. In Chapter 22, what worries Cristoforo about the current political climate?

6. How does painting the convent's chapel's fresco affect Alessandra?

7. In Chapter 47, what convinces Alessandra that her daughter is the painter's child?

8. What is Alessandra's life like when the painter is at the convent?

9. What does Alessandra do before the painter leaves the convent?

10. How does Savonarola respond to being excommunicated?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the author's commentary on the power of loss? How does she make loss into a motif?

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast Alessandra to her sister Plautilla.

Essay Topic 3

What role does infidelity play in The Birth of Venus? How does the author portray infidelity as a positive thing? As a negative thing?

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