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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 does Giannotto di Civigni want to do?

2. What does Tancredi have done to Guiscardo after he learns of his affair with Ghismunda?

3. What do the brothers do to Isabetta's lover?

4. What horrible thing does Tancredi do to his daughter?

5. How does the monk trick the abbot?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Alatiel eventually end up with the king of Algarve?

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

3. What bothers Brother Alberto about one of the women who comes to him for confession?

4. Describe the happy occasion for Alatiel as she prepares to get married.

5. How does the handsome Masetto manage to become the gardener for a convent of eight nuns and an abbess?

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

7. Who takes Andreuccio into a scheme to make easy money?

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

9. How does Ghismunda end her life?

10. How does Tancredi discover the affair between Ghismunda and Guiscardo?

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, How People Change Over Time. Begin by summarizing the tale of Tedaldo who leaves Florence after a quarrel with his mistress and later returns as a pilgrim and is not recognized by anyone who once knew him. Go to a discussion of how people not seen for a long time change physically, mentally, and emotionally. If possible use an example from your own life.

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, Why THE DECAMERON Should Be Required Reading. In your essay include the historic value of the book, the impact the book has had on modern novels, and the classic nature of the work. Discuss THE DECAMERON as a means of understanding the period of the Black Death in Europe and the attitude of living for today because tomorrow we may die. Conclude with why you think a reader is enriched by reading this particular work.

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This section contains 875 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample