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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 James Hamilton?

2. As Margaret awaits word about her divorce, where does Angus return to?

3. What happens to James's first wife?

4. Where does Harry Stuart work?

5. As Angus tries to gain power after Harry is thrown in jail, what does James take more control of?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Angus fight Margaret's divorce request?

2. Why do the servants eventually let James walk away from his imprisonment?

3. What is problematic about Margaret's relationship with Harry?

4. What notable change does Margaret see in her son after he speaks to Parliament?

5. Why does Angus want to go after Harry?

6. What does Mary remind Margaret of during one of Henry's jousting matches?

7. What weighs heavily on Henry's mind about his marriage to Katherine?

8. What dampers Margaret's excitement about returning to England?

9. What does Henry like so much about Margaret, Mary, and Katherine's plea for mercy for those involved in Evil May Day?

10. What does Henry do to impress upon Margaret how his English Court is superior to her Scottish one?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast James and Henry. How are they similar and different as characters? How are they similar and different as kings?

Essay Topic 2

Choose the point when Margaret finally becomes her own person in the novel and discuss when this moment is, how the reader knows this transformation has taken place, and at least two literary devices Plaidy uses to convey to the reader that such a transformation has occurred.

Essay Topic 3

Parents, such as Henry's and Margaret's and even James's, are presented as complicated characters in "The Thistle and the Rose." Discuss how parents are portrayed in "The Thistle and the Rose" as well as what message Plaidy is trying to convey to the reader about the power and influence of parents over the main characters in the text.

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This section contains 755 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample