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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. Who is Mistress Fawcett?

2. Who is quite animated when acting?

3. How are boys selected to be a part of the Company of Boys?

4. Who is Sam Gilbourne?

5. How many members are in the Company of Boys?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Roper suggest the boys do and what does Nat feel he must go?

2. What does Nat recite for his speaking class and who congratulates him after the recitation?

3. What happens with Nat in Chapter 3?

4. How is Nat different from the other apprentices and to what do the apprentices attribute the differences?

5. What is the purpose of the games and what does Nat think of some of the games?

6. How do Arby and Gill have a small confrontation and what is the result?

7. What happens to make Nat feel uncomfortable with his fellow actors?

8. How does Nat increase his acting skills, in particular playing the character of Puck?

9. What does Arby point out to Nat in the first reading of one play?

10. What happens to the Nat who is now in 1999?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In order to set up the plot, the writer has to introduce an implausible events. Discuss the following:

1. Research and define the term "narrative contrivance" and give several examples of it from other books and movies you have read.

2. Analyze the the event that seems a bit too far fetched that sets the rest of the story in motion. Is there any way theses "contrivances" could be left out and the plot move forward in much the same way that it does? What other ways are there to have gotten the same results?

3. Is much of fiction in some ways a contrivance? Why or why not.

Essay Topic 2

In the world of academia, historical fiction is often considered an inferior form of the novel compared to "classic" literature. Discuss the following:

1. Why do you think historical fiction might be considered second-rate compared to the classics?

2. Do you think historical fiction has the same elements as the classics? Why or why not?

3. What are the purposes do you think for people reading "the classics"? What are the purposes for people reading historical fiction? Is one purpose better than another? Explain your response.

4. Would you read historical fiction even outside an educational setting? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the following:

1. What do you think are the characteristics of a successful novel?

2. Analyze and discuss "King of Shadows" based upon the criteria you decide upon in #1 and judge if "King of Shadows" is a successful novel.

3. Do you think the fact that "King of Shadows" is a teen novel changes the criteria upon which its success should be judged? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

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