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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 is stolen from William?

2. What fascinated William?

3. What do Jorge and William debate in ‘Second Day’?

4. What is the bulk of the monastery called?

5. In ‘Second Day,’ where does William tell the abbot they were?

Short Essay Questions

1. What must the men pass through to reach the library at night?

2. Who, in ‘Second Day,’ reveals that the library is a labyrinth?

3. How does Adso feel about ‘modern’ life?

4. How does Salvatore speak?

5. How did the narrator originally lose his copy of the book?

6. What is William’s first conclusion about Adso’s death?

7. What is William’s mission at the abbey?

8. Why is Jorge so unnerving?

9. What does Berengar think he saw in ‘Second Day’?

10. Why is Adso allowed to sit away from the novices in ‘First Day’?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The abbey is organized according to strict power hierarchies. What are these hierarchies? How can characters move among them? What kind of actions, and feelings, do these hierarchies provoke? In what ways are they positive? Dangerous?

Essay Topic 2

The book shows two inquisitors, Bernard Gui and William, though he is not acting in this official capacity. How do the two men differ in their approaches? What has William done in the past while conducting inquisitions? How might their methods be the same? Different?

Essay Topic 3

The Judgment Day, the Apocalypse, and the Antichrist are frequent references throughout the novel. Why might these be significant? Are they truly the clue to the mysteries and murders taking place? If not, why might Eco have chosen to discuss them in the novel?

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