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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 promise does Brother Onion make to the villagers this time?

2. When the weather does not change, what do Rabatta and Bondone decide to do?

3. What does Caterina say she wants to hear at night?

4. Why does Frederigo leave the city for his farm?

5. With whom does Tingoccio have an affair?

Short Essay Questions

1. What plan does Caterina devise in order to be with Ricciardo?

2. What unusual thing causes Peronella and her lover to look for a place to hide him?

3. How does the nun know that the abbess cannot punish her?

4. What does the daughter of Messer Lizio di Valbona, a rich knight, do that her father knows nothing about?

5. When collecting alms from a nearby village, what does Brother Onion use to get the people to give freely?

6. Explain the kind of work done by another ugly man by the name of Giotto di Bondone.

7. What is the result of Frederigo's attempts to impress Monna Giovanna?

8. What is the result of a man sneaking into an Abbess' cell after he has fallen in love with her?

9. How does Calandrino learn that the magic has gone out of the rocks?

10. Why do several nuns come to the Abbess' door in the middle of the night?

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, The Story I Most Enjoyed in THE DECAMERON. First summarize the story you liked best and then explain in detail why that particular story caught your fancy. Be sure to mention the literary qualities of the story that made it stand out in your mind.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay of at least two typewritten, double spaced pages on the topic, the device Boccaccio uses in the character of Dioneo tell the tenth tale every evening. Discuss this literary device in terms of transition and keeping the story flowing in the form of the novel. Conclude with the element of suspense that this device brings to THE DECAMERON making the reader want to read on.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay of at least two typewritten, double spaced pages on the topic, Sexuality in THE DECAMERON. Select three examples of sexual behavior related in the tales told in THE DECAMERON. Discuss the manner in which these are presented made quite clear without going into graphic detail.

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This section contains 715 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample