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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. Where does Lucrezia spend much of her toddler days?

2. Who was supposed to marry the man Lucrezia eventually marries?

3. How does Lucrezia feel when she wakens at the fortezza on her first night there?

4. Which cousin does Lucrezia suggest to her father might marry Alfonso in her place?

5. What is unusual about Lucrezia's appearance?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Lucrezia struggle to ask her mother in the carriage on the way to the wedding?

2. What is Lucrezia's first sexual experience with Alfonso like?

3. What is Eleanora doing at the moment of Lucrezia's conception?

4. What does Lucrezia often do during group lessons with her siblings?

5. What does Lucrezia do with the tigress?

6. What does Leonello tell Lucrezia will happen if she does not produce Alfonso's heir?

7. How does Sofia help delay Lucrezia's marriage?

8. What is Eleanora known for and what is her nickname?

9. Why is Cosimo a bit reluctant to have Lucrezia marry the Duke?

10. What makes Lucrezia inconsolably sad?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay exploring O'Farrell's use of humor throughout the novel.

Essay Topic 2

How do O'Farrell's descriptions of some of the medical advice, treatments, and conventions of Lucrezia's day inform the reader about the daily lives and struggles of those who lived in that time period? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

How is Lucrezia's near-miss with the boiling water that hit Emilia when they were both very young children foreshadow what is to come for both characters in the end of the novel? Write an essay explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

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