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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. Who saves the group when they are threatened outside the Gatekeeper's house??

2. What does Mercy ask Christiana in the beginning of Part 2?

3. After they have left the shepherds, what did the man at the mountain do before he met the group?

4. What does Christiana receive soon after entering Beulah?

5. What is the Interpreter’s relationship to Great Heart?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the group’s rescuer tell them and where do they go next? What do they see there first?

2. What happens to the group in BeulahLand?

3. Why is Mercy worried about the journey?

4. Who visits Christiana while she is preparing to depart and what happens?

5. What happens to the group when they leave Goodwill’s house?

6. Whom does the group ask to join them and what is that person’s worry?

7. Where are the first two places the group go after leaving House Beautiful and what does Great Heart do for them?

8. What happens to the group in the morning at the Interpreter’s house and what does he do before the group leaves? Where are they going next?

9. Why do they need a doctor and what does the doctor give Christiana?

10. What does the group see when they pass the spot where Christian met Sloth and his friends?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Christian represents the common man, who is faced with the question of what will happen to him after death. He is disturbed by images of Hell and chooses to leave his home and family to seek salvation. On the journey, he meets Evangelist, who acts as his spiritual guide. Christian shows his weaknesses in often being detoured from his goal by the forces of evil.

1. Christian is a universal, everyman character even today. To be human is to wonder about death. Discuss how Christian’s images of Hell might represent the universal fear of death. Use examples from The Pilgrim’s Progress and your own experience to support your answer.

2. Discuss the weaknesses and strengths that Christian shows on his journey. Present and analyze examples from The Pilgrim’s Progress to support your answer.

3. Do you think that the “lesser sins” such as sloth or dishonesty are as detrimental to a person’s psyche as the more felonious ones? Why or why not? Use examples from The Pilgrim’s Progress to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

The Pilgrim’s Progress belongs to the religious allegory genre. Discuss the following:

1. Define the literary term "genre" and give examples of three other genres in addition to the religious allegory genre.

2. What are other examples of religious allegories? In what ways to they compare with The Pilgrim's Progress?

3. Discuss two reasons why it might be useful to label a text by genre and two reasons it might be disadvantageous to label a text by genre. How does this apply to The Pilgrim's Progress?

3. What are the key differences between a religious allegory and a historical novel or a mystery novel?

Essay Topic 3

The narrative style of a work of literature refers to the perspective from which the story is told. Answer and discuss the following:

1. Is the narrative in The Pilgrim's Progress related from a first, second, or third-person perspective? What are the advantages and the disadvantages of this narrative perspective?

2. Is the novel related in the present or past tense? Why is the tense of the narrative important in analyzing a work of literature?

3. Is the narrator of the novel a reliable one? Why or why not?

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