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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 can Lucrezia not stop herself from doing when Alfonso chides her during the storm?

2. What is Alfonso's response to Lucrezia's offers of helping him?

3. What do Lucrezia and Emilia hear in the dead of night at the castello in Part IV?

4. What does Elisabetta suspect Lucrezia of doing to betray her?

5. What does Lucrezia wear to disguise herself even at home?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Lucrezia feel about posing for a portrait?

2. Who does Lucrezia save from death in Part III?

3. What comment does Alfonso make about Lucrezia's portrait that startles her and the painters?

4. What do Lucrezia and Jacopo have in common?

5. Who does Emilia hear has ordered the Duke's mother's exile?

6. Why does Alfonso get so angry at Lucrezia in Part III?

7. What playful gesture does the Duke do to Lucrezia that brings back sour memories of her childhood?

8. What does Lucrezia do when Alfonso is away that makes her very happy?

9. What does Lucrezia ask at court which Alfonso embarrasses her about?

10. What does Elisabetta want Lucrezia to keep a secret from Alfonso?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How do Lucrezia's earliest days at court underscore the entrenchment of the patriarchy? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

When and how does O'Farrell make the reader aware of Lucrezia's realization that she is really on her own, and cannot expect help from her parents after her marriage? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 3

Why does O'Farrell skip backwards and forwards in time throughout the novel, and what effect does this choice have on the reader? Write an essay explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 538 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample