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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. Where do Aliena and Richard intend to go after their escape?

2. What action does the person take who screamed at the prisoner's death?

3. What do Tom and Agnes do when they locate the thief that robbed them

4. What is the historical significance of the ship that flounders off Balfour?

5. What type of cathedral does Tom design for Prior Philip?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Abbot Peter transfer Prior Philip out of the monastery where he was born and where does he send him?

2. Summarize the location and outcome of the birth of Tom's third child.

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

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

5. Describe the plan Philip devises to get more work done on the cathedral before the visit from Bishop Henry.

6. What does Tom discover when he has a change of heart and goes back to Agnes' grave to get the baby?

7. Of what is the crime that the condemned man has been found guilty?

8. When the condemned man dies, what is the reaction of the young pregnant girl to whom he was singing?

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

10. What events take place when William Hamleigh goes to the castle at Shiring to claim it as his own?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

1) Describe the steps Aliena must go through in order to start up her wool business.

2) What supplies does she purchase, who does she consult, and what business associates does she meet?

3) How does Aliena adapt her business to grow and prosper through the years?

4) Summarize the prosperous times, as well as the times of hardship.

Essay Topic 2

1) Summarize the life of Prior Philip beginning with the death of his parents up to the point where he becomes Bishop of Kingsbridge.

2) Describe each eventful point in his life.

3) How does Philip react to each defeat and success?

4) How do his attitudes toward the church, morality, government, and his own spirituality change during the novel?

Essay Topic 3

1) Analyze the resolution of the story as it relates to each of the main characters in the novel.

2) Explain the metamorphosis each of their experiences in the final chapters.

3) Describe how Philip's thoughts that the world will never be quite the same relate to the characters and the crown.

(see the answer keys)

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