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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. Whom is Joseph amazed to see in the custody of king's palace guard after the fire?

2. What does Kreutz say he has done to obtain the item he places in the middle of the room?

3. What is the best description of the castles in the Epilogue?

4. At the beginning of Chapter 13, what does Kreutz tell Tring?

5. When the 12 men see the explosions, who do they tell their leader they are afraid of?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Peter of the Button Face do to break into the tower in Chapter 11?

2. Explain what happens to the Charnetski family at the end of Chapter 16.

3. What do Jan Kanty and the king decide to do about the crystal in Chapter 16?

4. What does Pan Andrew tell the king about the Great Tarnov Crystal in Chapter 15?

5. Explain what happens after Kreutz grabs the crystal from the king's hands.

6. Describe how the Epilogue explains the Heynal is played.

7. Who leaves the tower to fight the fire and who fills in for him in Chapter 14?

8. What sounds does the Epilogue say one hears coming from the church?

9. When Elzbietka hears the Heynal played in its entirety as described in Chapter 12, where is she and what does she do?

10. Chapter 11 explains that something has changed with Peter of the Button Face. Describe the changes.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the conflict between superstition and science in the novel. Do you think this was an important issue to the author? What is he trying to portray by returning to this conflict? Does the conflict seem relevant to the main theme of the novel?

Essay Topic 3

How does the fact that the peasants' dependence upon agriculture as described in the book exacerbates the conflict between superstition and science in the novel?

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