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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 Bear make Crispin do in the morning?

2. Where is the man going when Crispin meets him?

3. What does Crispin realize about the people in the the place he finds?

4. What is Crispin eventually able to do?

5. Who looks at Bear and Crispin with hatred while the two are entertaining the villagers?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Bear provide dinner for him and Crispin and what does Bear say about the dinner and how he feels about it?

2. Who meets the boy and the man helping him, and what does that man tell the boy?

3. How does Crispin feel about his situation, and what does Father Quinel tell him to do?

4. How did Bear pick up his trade?

5. What do the man and Crispin do after Crispin has agreed to serve the man?

6. Why is Crispin not able to leave the church?

7. What does Bear tell Crispin he does in his travels?

8. What does the boy see after he spends the night in the forest, and what does he realize?

9. Who spots the boy in the forest and what do they do?

10. Who is the man Crispin has agreed to serve, and what does he do for a living?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Crispin finds it very hard to cope with his situation. As he grows more tired and hungry, he begins to lose hope. He even begins to wish that he was dead, thinking that his suffering would be over and he could see his mother again. When he sees the dead man on the gallows, however, his mind is instantly changed. He comes face to face with the horror of death and realizes how much he actually wants to be alive. He realizes that his feelings were brought on by deep sadness and fear, and that he does not really want to die at all.

1. Why do you think Crispin might wish to be dead in his situation? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

2. Do you think someone who sees death, either in a friend or in a close brush with death is more likely to appreciate living than someone who has not confronted mortality? Why or why not? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

3. Peasants in that era and location lived fairly brutal, short and difficult lives yet still continued living and having children even knowing what kind of life their children faced. Discuss why you think humans in this situation do this. Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss one of the following:

1. Thoroughly analyze how the setting informs the plot in "Crispin: The Cross of Lead".

2. Trace and analyze one major theme of "Crispin: The Cross of Lead". How is the theme represented by symbolism? By the characters' behaviors? By the action?

3. Trace and analyze two secondary themes of this story. How are the themes represented by symbolism? By the characters' behaviors? By the action?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss one of the following:

1. Trace and analyze the theme of growth in "Crispin: The Cross of Lead". Consider the following questions as you write: What characters are most concerned with growth? Why? What are some symbols of growth? Symbols of rigidity? What characters seem rigid?

2. Trace and analyze the theme of courage in "Crispin: The Cross of Lead". Which characters struggle with this issue? Why? Which characters seem to possess courage? Why?

3. Trace and analyze the theme of death in "Crispin: The Cross of Lead". In addition to the theme of actual death of characters and its theme, consider in your answer the death of innocence in Crispin from the beginning of the book to the end.

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