View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Merton imagine a monastery to be?
(a) The brothers want to advance in their religious careers.
(b) The brothers are all pious and devoted.
(c) The brothers argue constantly.
(d) The brothers are plagued by doubt.

2. What does Merton say he needs when he begins talking about being a priest?
(a) A rule that would prepare him to teach at the university.
(b) A rule designed to detach him from the world.
(c) A rule that would lead him to parish ministry.
(d) A rule that would allow him to do community outreach.

3. What prompted Merton to confess his sins to the abbot?
(a) A discussion with Dan Walsh.
(b) Merton's trip to Cuba.
(c) The abbot's forgiving demeanor.
(d) Merton's medical emergency.

4. With whom does Merton receive the habit he will wear as a monk?
(a) Bob Lax.
(b) Father Edmund.
(c) A Carmelite he met on retreat.
(d) A friend from the university.

5. What were growing interests for Merton in Olean?
(a) Teaching and journalism.
(b) Asceticism and contemplation.
(c) Philosophy and religion.
(d) Sports and writing

6. What does Merton think of Father Edmund's recommendation to apply to the order in August of 1940?
(a) Merton agrees and takes Father Edmund's advice.
(b) Merton thinks that is too long to wait.
(c) Merton decides not to apply to the priesthood until the next year.
(d) Merton becomes discouraged and thinks about not applying at all.

7. How could Merton have registered for the draft?
(a) As a religious person.
(b) As a lay person.
(c) As a lay person.
(d) As a conscientious objector.

8. What sends Merton into a frustrating "holding pattern"?
(a) Discovering that his friends had sabotaged him in his desire to be a priest.
(b) Being told to withdraw his application to the monastery and that he has no vocation to be a priest.
(c) Being told that he must wait to find a teaching job until the next year.
(d) Finding out that he was taken off the waiting list at St. Bonaventure.

9. How does Merton want to live in the world?
(a) As a monk.
(b) As a chaplain in the military.
(c) As a good and righteous lay person.
(d) As a religious teacher.

10. What is Merton's role at Friendship House?
(a) He works as a priest.
(b) He is a volunteer.
(c) He raises money for the administration.
(d) He is a guest of the owner.

11. What is Merton afraid to tell anyone when he is teaching at St. Bonaventure?
(a) His deepest and darkest sins.
(b) About his experiences overseas.
(c) That he stills yearns to be a monk.
(d) The condition of his teeth.

12. Who accepts Merton into the community of monks?
(a) Abbot Dom Frederic.
(b) Father Edmund.
(c) Father Brown.
(d) Abbot Snow.

13. Why does Merton not enter the military draft?
(a) He fails the physical because of his poor eyesight.
(b) He fails the physical because of his teeth.
(c) He fails the physical because of his stomach problems.
(d) He fails the physical because he has flat feet.

14. What does the Baroness tell Merton when he questions his spiritual path and calling?
(a) To keep writing and pray to God more.
(b) That he should sell all of his possessions.
(c) To come with her to France.
(d) That he is on the wrong path and is making a mistake.

15. Who is Father Edmund?
(a) A friend of Mark Van Doren.
(b) A friend of Dan Walsh.
(c) A friend of Merton's brother.
(d) A friend of Owen Merton.

Short Answer Questions

1. What happens when Merton goes to confession after being told to withdraw his application for the priesthood?

2. Where does John Paul die?

3. Which saint becomes important to Merton when he receives the Baronness' advice?

4. Where is Olean?

5. What does Merton feel about the war?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 659 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample