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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 is caught holding and kissing Giton?

2. What color coat does Trimalchio wear to the dinner party?

3. Who does Encolpius find weeping as he leaves the place the old woman took him?

4. Where does the old woman take the two students she encounters?

5. What does Ascyltus accuse Encolpius of doing when Encolpius confronts him about something else?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Menippean satire?

2. Why does Ascyltus call Encolpius a hypocrite? Explain the situation.

3. What is the accountant's role at the dinner?

4. Who does Encolpius want to stab in the spleen and why?

5. What was Petronius' title in the emperor's court and what significance was the title?

6. Is Petronius a typical satirist for his era? Why or why not?

7. How does Petronius treat sordid events in his story? How would other writers from the era have treated them?

8. How does Trimalchio arrive at his dinner party and how is he dressed for the occasion?

9. Why do Trimalchio and his wife, Fortunata, fight at the dinner?

10. Why, according to Eumolpus, is love and art on the decline?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the role of the translator in both stories. Give a brief overview of this translator's life and specific challenges he faced in interpreting both these stories.

Essay Topic 2

A main character has both good and bad qualities, giving the character dimension. Discuss Eumolpus' good and bad qualities. Are the "bad" qualities really bad? Support your answers. Answer the same question for Giton.

Essay Topic 3

Irony is the contrast between what is expected and what actually happens. There are three types of irony: verbal, situational and dramatic. Identify and discuss two examples of irony in each story. Which type of irony is it? What is expected and what actually occurs with your examples?

(see the answer keys)

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