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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. In Chapter 4, where does Rabbi Mendes say that he has heard that Rabbi ben Israel has traveled?

2. How many combined years of Hebrew, Spanish, and Portuguese study does Aaron have in Chapter 13?

3. What is the date in the Prologue?

4. In Chapter 16, where did Benjamin HaLevy send Alvaro?

5. What is the date in Chapter 15?

Short Essay Questions

1. What rules did the Mahamad set forth in a pamphlet in Chapter 14?

2. In Chapter 12, why did the rabbi tell Rivka that Ester read in the night?

3. How does Helen learn about the papers from the seventeenth century?

4. What is the one text that Aaron is able to find that Mendes published, and what is the subject?

5. In Chapter 16 who wanted to marry Ester and why?

6. What advice did Mendes offer in Chapter 4?

7. In Chapter 11, how does Aaron act in the rare manuscripts room?

8. In Chapter 11, how did Helen come to buy the Masada painting?

9. In Chapter 6, what did Ester see when she was onboard a ship?

10. How does Helen learn that Mendes's scribe was a woman?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Both Helen and Ester have regrets about how they have lived their lives. What regrets do the women have? How do those regrets affect their lives and how they live?

Essay Topic 2

The rabbi and other characters make confessions in the novel. What is a confession? Who makes confessions in the novel? How do those confessions relieve agony that characters felt?

Essay Topic 3

Masada was the site of a battle between Jews and Romans. What happened at Masada? What does Masada represent in the novel?

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