View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is George Douglas?

2. Where is Albany living when Margaret returns to Scotland?

3. Who does Albany enlist to help persuade Margaret to return to England?

4. What is Margaret thinking about when she becomes ill at the conclusion of "The Thistle and the Rose"?

5. How do the common people feel about Albany's plans to invade England?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does Angus foil one of James's escape attempts?

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

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

5. What secret does Angus have that Margaret eventually learns when Margaret returns to Scotland?

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

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

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

9. After one year in England, what does Margaret tell Henry her goal is for returning to Scotland?

10. What does James realize about his captors after he is attacked while with George Douglas and his guards?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze one father/son relationship in "The Thistle and the Rose." Is it a positive relationship? A negative one? What does the reader learn about each character through their relationship with each other? What function does the relationship serve in the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Several of Margaret's children die in the novel. Discuss the effect this has on the reader, how these deaths have an influence on the sequence of events, and how these deaths influence Margaret as both a person and a ruler.

Essay Topic 3

While virtually all of the male characters in "The Thistle and the Rose" have affairs, some of these affairs are more consequential than others. Discuss which affair is the most egregious in "The Thistle and the Rose," why this particular affair is the most egregious, and the major consequences for other characters that happen as a result of this affair.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 824 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample