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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 William Hamleigh do when he finds Aliena in the earl's castle?

2. Where do Tom and his family go for shelter from the freezing weather?

3. How do Richard and Aliena escape the castle?

4. What is the language the condemned man speaks?

5. What color eyes does the person have that the prisoner stares at in the crowd?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Tom Builder's greatest passion in life?

2. What is the reaction of the townspeople as the man is led to the gallows?

3. Describe the business that Aliena begins when she gets the money her father left for her and Richard with a priest in Winchester?

4. What is the deal that Archdeacon Waleran makes with Philip after the death of Prior James, the Prior of Kingsbridge?

5. Who is riding behind the oxcart that brings the condemned man to the gallows?

6. Describe the design of the cathedral Tom proposes to build for Prior Philip.

7. What happens when Tom asks the master builder of a cathedral in Salisbury if he can have a job?

8. What is the vow that Aliena's father asks her to make when she and Richard visit him in prison?

9. What is the fate of the White Ship and its passengers after it sets sail from England in 1120?

10. How does Tom first meet Ellen and her son, Jack?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

1) Summarize how Ken Follett uses local color and imagery to describe Kingsbridge and the cathedral.

2) Cite descriptive examples of landscaping, the monastery, the cathedral architecture, villagers, and the market.

3) How does the imagery Follett uses depict a clear and accurate picture of Kingsbridge and surrounding landscape?

Essay Topic 2

1) Analyze Jack's coming of age throughout the novel.

2) What fears and emotions does he experience as he grows from childhood to adulthood?

3) How does his outlook on life, education, and love change as he develops from a boy into a man?

4) Cite examples of Jack's character changes throughout his life.

Essay Topic 3

1) Analyze the structure of the novel.

2) What is the central conflict that is carried forward through each part of the novel?

3) Summarize the plot's climax and resolution.

4) Are the characterizations in the story realistic?

(see the answer keys)

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