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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. Why does Ghismunda not marry at a time when other girls her age have taken husbands?

2. What is the discovery of Saladin, the Sultan of Babylon?

3. Why does the King determine that no one should ever know about all the men and unfortunate circumstances in Alatiel's life?

4. What results after Monna Lisetta believes Alberto's story and agrees to comply?

5. Where does Abraham insist on going to find out about Christianity?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to Ciappelletto while staying with two Florentine brothers in Burgundy?

2. How does Brother Alberto take advantage of Lisetta whom he calls Lady Halfwit?

3. How dies Alatiel end up on the island of Majorca?

4. How does Andreuccio turn the tales on the two robbers?

5. Describe the happy occasion for Alatiel as she prepares to get married.

6. What ultimately happens after Ciappelletto dies?

7. What means of entertainment do the young people devise?

8. What do the brothers think when they hear Ciappelletto's confession?

9. After becoming a widow shortly after her marriage, what does Ghismunda see her father, Tancredi, has no plans of doing?

10. How does Ciappelletto become aware of the brothers' situation?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay of at least two typewritten, double spaced pages on the topic, Man's Desire to Return from the Dead. In your essay point out that one reason for returning from the dead is to tell the living what it is like on the other side. Compare the pact made by Tingoccio Mini and Meuccio di Tura with the Twentieth Century magician, Harry Houdini who made a similar promise. Conclude with the fact that there is no evidence that anyone has ever succeeded in this return.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay of at least two typewritten, double spaced pages on the topic, THE DECAMERON as a Forerunner to Novels with Sexual Themes. First discuss the largely sexual nature of THE DECAMERON. Then compare the work to Henry Fielding's TOM JONES, Daniel Defoe's MOLL FLANDERS, and Henry Miller's TROPIC OF CANCER.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay of at least two typewritten, double spaced pages on the topic, Why Story Telling is Becoming a Lost Art. Begin with the modern media today that involves being spoon fed stories in visual and interactive formats. Discuss the fact that people no longer sit together and relate tales they have made up or have heard. Speculate how different the situation of THE DECAMERON would have been if all the people in the group had iPods and PCs.

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