View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What difference does Massimo Donadon claim to have made in the rat poison market?

2. Which mask-making studio is well-respected, even among Venetians, according to the book?

3. How many doges were in Alvise Loredan's family?

4. What is the main focus of Count Marcello's private library?

5. What does the narrator call his game of taking pictures at unplanned moments?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the Count Giovanni Volpi describe his father?

2. Describe Archimede Seguso's state of mind and his activities since the Fenice fire.

3. Explain Rose Lauritzen's problems with the "magazzino" as detailed in Chapter 3.

4. What does Count Marcello tell the narrator during the prologue?

5. Describe the exchange between Ludovico De Luigi and Venice's mayor during the meeting at the Ateneo Veneto in Chapter 2.

6. Who is the Rat Man of Treviso and what does he do? What's special about what he does?

7. Describe Capitano Mario Moro.

8. What examples does the narrator give for the public outpouring of support after the fire at the Fenice?

9. Who is Peter Lauritzen and how has he established himself in Venice?

10. How does Archimede Seguso react to the fire?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe what you believe about Enrico Carella's guilt or innocence by detailing Carella's perspective on what happened the night of the fire as well as what Felice Casson finds out that undermines his story, and then explain and back up your own opinion.

Essay Topic 2

Explain the importance of the gods Apollo, Dionysus, and Bacchus for the interior of the Fenice and why they are important as symbols of Venice.

Essay Topic 3

Describe the conflict between nobility and democracy the narrator weaves at the Carnival ball in Chapter 6 through the narrative about the characters of Alvise Loredan and the "Rat Man" of Treviso, and explain how this conflict is relevant to Venetian culture as a whole.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,501 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample