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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 Brother Francis at first believe is in the hole?

2. What does Paulo find in a vase of water in the guesthouse?

3. Who insists that Francis must complete his illuminated blueprint?

4. How does Francis respond to being hit by the Abbot?

5. What does Flaught conclude about Francis' story?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Leibowitz do after the Flame Deluge?

2. Why do the monks wear burlap habits?

3. How does the Pope treat the clan chief?

4. How does Taddeo view the modern-day common man?

5. Why is the find of Emily Leibowitz's skull important to the case for the canonization of Leibowitz?

6. What does Francis realize about the Pope and the Vatican, on examining the Pope's cassock and the surroundings closely?

7. Describe Brother Kornhoer's invention.

8. What is Brother Francis seeking in the desert?

9. Why does the Church have a Devil's Advocate?

10. What does Brother Francis need to protect himself against in the desert?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the Old Jew.

Part 1) What is the Old Jew's true identity? Can you make a case for more than one possible identity? What evidence is there for his identity?

Part 2) What role does he play in the story? Why is he in all three parts of the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss hubris in the novel.

Part 1) In what ways is the Flame Deluge like the fall of the Tower of Babel?

Part 2) Discuss hubris in the characters throughout the novel, including Francis, Taddeo, and Hannegan. What are the results of hubris?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the nature of knowledge in the novel.

Part 1) What do the Memorabilia represent? Why do the monks want to preserve it?

Part 2) Is knowledge good or evil or neutral? What are the consequences, positive and negative, of mankind's gaining of knowledge? How does knowledge in the novel relate to the story of the Garden of Eden and the fall of man for tasting the fruit of the tree of knowledge?

Part 3) Can knowledge be permanently lost?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 708 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample