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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 introduces herself to Margot as she is exploring?

2. Why might the convent not be financially viable?

3. How have the bookshelves been damaged?

4. Who does Margot encounter when she changes compartments on the train?

5. Who speaks to Margo in French?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why are two of the postulants in trouble?

2. What are Margot's options for a room when she gets off the train in Florence?

3. What did Alessandro do on the day of the November 4th flood?

4. How does the situation about the cassette tapes affect Margot's life even years later?

5. About what does Margot become curious while working at the convent, and what does she learn?

6. How is Margot spending time during the long plane and train rides?

7. What is the significance of Harvard University to Margot?

8. Discuss the significance of Señor Bruni in Margot's life as a teenager.

9. What do Margot and Madre Badessa discuss concerning the nuns' vows?

10. How does Margot first offend two American travelers on the train and then bond with them?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Characters are an integral and important part of almost all novels. Discuss one of the following in relation to The Sixteen Pleasures:

1. Compare/contrast the characters of Margot at the beginning of The Sixteen Pleasures versus Margot at the end of The Sixteen Pleasures. How are they similar? How are they different? How does she change? Do you believe she is a better person at the beginning of The Sixteen Pleasures or at the end? Or do you think she has not changed? Be specific and give examples.

2. Compare/contrast the characters of Alessandro and Tony Reynolds. How are they similar? How do they seem different? Which do you like more? Why? Which one seems more of a well-rounded character?

3. Thoroughly analyze how three of the secondary characters help drive the plot and what their contribution is to the storyline. Are any of the secondary characters unnecessary? Indispensable? Which of the secondary characters are likable? Which are either unlikable or even despicable? Be specific and give examples.

Essay Topic 2

Margot refers to the poem her mother had loved by Robert Frost entitled "The Road Not Taken." Margot realizes that there is no "other road." Her only life is the one that she is living now. Discuss the following:

1. Thoroughly analyze and give a reader response to Robert Frost's poem, "The Road Not Taken." Consider such things as imagery, metaphor, syntax, rhythm, and of course, meaning.

2. Take your analysis of "The Road Not Taken" and trace and analyze how it is relevant to The Sixteen Pleasures. What characters are most concerned with the road not taken? What character(s) have irretrievably lost something important by taking a different fork? What character(s) cannot recover from a poor choice made at various forks?

3. Discuss one or two of your own "roads not taken." Do you still regret taking one road versus another in a particular situation? Do you think it would be good to let go? Can you go back and travel the other road? What "difference" has the choice made for you?

Essay Topic 3

Oftentimes, a novel is more of a character-driven plot rather than action driven, and oftentimes the other way. Some books seem to balance the two. Discuss the following:

1. What do you think it means to say that a plot is character driven? Action driven?

2. How do you think a plot differs if it is character driven versus action driven?

3. Which type of plot do you find more interesting? Why?

4. Do you think it is possible to have a plot where action and character development share equal time? Why or why not.

5. What type of plot do you think The Sixteen Pleasures is? Explain your response.

(see the answer keys)

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