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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 does the group do at Enchanted Ground?

2. Who is Secret?

3. What is the relationship between Christian and Christiana?

4. Why do Christiana’s four sons stay in Beulah?

5. What story does Honest tell the group?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. How does the group earn the gratitude of Vanity’s townspeople and what has happened while the group is staying in Vanity?

5. How is the group greeted at House Beautiful? What kind of dream does Mercy have?How long does the group stay?

6. What is in the dream Christiana has before she leaves her home?

7. 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?

8. What happens to the group shortly after leaving Vanity?

9. What hill did the group climb and what were they shown as they approached House Beautiful?

10. Why does Christiana decide to go on a journey?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Characters are an important part of what makes The Pilgrim’s Progress interesting. Discuss the following:

1. Thoroughly discuss and analyze Christian. What are his strengths? His weaknesses? How does he contribute to the plot? Is he a sympathetic character? Is he always likable? Use specific examples to illustrate your ideas.

2. Thoroughly discuss and analyze Christiana. Is Christiana the hero or protagonist in the narrative or does she serve as an antagonist? How does she contribute to the plot? Use specific examples to illustrate your ideas.

3. Discuss and analyze the character of Great Heart. What are his strengths? His weaknesses? How does he contribute to the plot? Is he a sympathetic character?

4. Thoroughly discuss and analyze the character of the Interpreter. How does the Interpreter contribute to the novel's plot? Is he aligned with the protagonists of the novel or the antagonists?

Essay Topic 2

The female pilgrims find the path changed from when Christian walked it. The first set of bad characters, Simple, Sloth, and Presumption, are not there to tempt the pilgrims. Instead, they have been punished and made into a warning. Again, the female pilgrims are guided and told of the clear wrongs of these characters.

1. Do you think women and men react to moral decisions differently? Why or why not? Use examples from the novel to support your answer.

2. Some of the punishments dealt out in The Pilgrim’s Progress are quite harsh. Discuss the differences in the legal systems of today versus in the 1600s. How have the forms of punishment changed?

3. Do you think if a person is always told exactly what to do that might hinder the person from developing a moral fortitude? Why or why not? How is this idea explored in the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the following regarding the literary technique of the dream sequence that is employed in The Pilgrim's Progress:

1. What is a dream sequence in narrative literature? How does this term apply to the narrative in The Pilgrim's Progress?

2. What are the advantages of employing a dream sequence or frame in a novel? What are the disadvantages?

3. What does the frame of the dream sequence say about the content of the story itself?

(see the answer keys)

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