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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. What does Joseph do when Pan Andrew is fighting with the stranger in the caravan?

2. What does Pan Andrew say to Joseph when Joseph asks what is lighting up the room?

3. In the midst of all the destruction after the attack on Krakow, there is one Polish person left alive. Who is it?

4. What is unusual about one of the wagons in the caravan?

5. What does the stranger offer to buy from Pan Andrew Charnetski?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the reader learn about the stranger in Chapter 8?

2. Describe why the last note the trumpeter plays is broken.

3. Why do the Polish people decide not to defend Krakow and let the Tartars pillage their city?

4. In Chapter 2, what does Pan Andrew Charnetski tell the guard when he arrives at the palace gates and what is the guard's response?

5. In Chapter 9, is Peter of the Button Face successful in obtaining the treasure?

6. Describe the oath that the trumpeter takes.

7. In Chapter 4, what occurs when the Charnetski family accompanies Jan Kanty to his home?

8. How does Joseph know that the stranger is an enemy in Chapter 1?

9. In Chapter 5, when Kanty and the Charnetski family go to the lodgings Joseph has found, what do they witness on their way?

10. Describe the tower from which Pan Andrew has to perform his job.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss what you think is the climax of the novel. Does more than one climax exist? Which do you think is the most effective? As you were reading, did you think that the book was almost over? Was the multiple use of exciting scenes effective in making the novel exciting for the reader?

Essay Topic 2

Based on your understanding of the character of the Tartar people as described in the novel, why do you think the Tartars did not succeed as a nation? What contributed to their downfall? In the novel, does it seem like they are a powerful group or can you tell that they are going to experience a downfall?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast Nicholas Kreutz and Johann Tring. Is Johann Tring truly evil, or does he just misunderstand the power of superstition? Why do you think the author portrays Kreutz as powerless against the trances of Tring? Do you think the author should have handled this conflict differently?

(see the answer keys)

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