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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 tragedy befalls Alatiel?

2. What is the premise of the novel that results in rounds of story telling?

3. Why is Masetto sleeping in the garden when the abbess finds him and begins to lust after him?

4. When does Masetto return to his village of Lamporecchio?

5. What does the foolish Alibech think she is doing when she allows the monk to have his way with her?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why have the young people of the novel left Florence and gone into the country?

2. What eventually transpires between Masetto and one of the nuns?

3. What is the ambition of Alibech and where does it take her?

4. Why does Isabetta cry over a pot of basil?

5. Describe the character of Ciappelletto who is put in charge of the affairs of Musciatto Franzesi .

6. Why does Andreuccio di Pietro travel to Naples?

7. What happens to Ciappelletto while staying with two Florentine brothers in Burgundy?

8. What do the village women tell Alibech after she explains how she put the devil back into hell with Rustico.

9. How does Brother Alberto take advantage of Lisetta whom he calls Lady Halfwit?

10. What happens to Alatiel after she is taken to safety?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay of at least two typewritten, double spaced pages on the topic, Medical Pandemics Through the Ages. In your essay describe the Black Death that swept Europe in the Middle Ages and why it lasted so long. Then discuss pandemics of more modern times such as polio and various virulent strains of the flu. Conclude with how these plagues affect the human psyche.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay of at least two typewritten, double spaced pages on the topic, Views of the Clergy in THE DECAMERON. Use the arguments put forth by Tedaldo in the Seventh Tale to point out the various excesses the general public observed in the behavior of the clergy.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay of at least two typewritten, double spaced pages on the topic, Attitudes About the Morality of the Clergy. In your essay point out from THE DECAMERON how it is assumed that many if not most of the clergy are morally remiss in having affairs. Compare this to modern times when clergy have been brought down because of their moral indiscretions.

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