CliffsNotes on

Death Comes for the Archbishop

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Life and Background of the Author

Family Background
Education and Early Work
Cather the Novelist

About the Novel

Introduction to the Novel
A Brief Synopsis
List of Characters
Character Map

Summaries and Commentaries

Prologue: At Rome
Book One: The Vicar Apostolic: Chapter 1
Book One: The Vicar Apostolic: Chapter 2
Book One: The Vicar Apostolic: Chapter 3
Book One: The Vicar Apostolic: Chapter 4
Book Two: Missionary Journeys: Chapter 1
Book Two: Missionary Journeys: Chapter 2
Book Three: The Mass at Acoma: Chapter 1
Book Three: The Mass at Acoma: Chapter 2
Book Three: The Mass at Acoma: Chapter 3
Book Three: The Mass at Acoma: Chapter 4
Book Four: Snake Root: Chapter 1
Book Four: Snake Root: Chapter 2
Book Five: Padre Martinez: Chapter 1
Book Five: Padre Martinez: Chapter 2
Book Six: Dona Isabella: Chapter 1
Book Six: Dona Isabella: Chapter 2
Book Seven: The Great Diocese: Chapter 1
Book Seven: The Great Diocese: Chapter 2
Book Seven: The Great Diocese: Chapter 3
Book Seven: The Great Diocese: Chapter 4
Book Eight: Gold Under Pikes Peak: Chapter 1
Book Eight: Gold Under Pikes Peak: Chapter 2
Book Eight: Gold Under Pikes Peak: Chapter 3
Book Nine: Death Comes for the Archbishop: Chapters 1–8

Character Analyses

Jean Marie Latour
Joseph Vaillant
Kit Carson
Padre Gallegos, Fray Baltazar Montoya, Padre Marino Lucero, and Antonio Joseph Martinez
Don Antonio and Dona Isabella Olivares
Philomene, Magdalena, and Inez Olivares
Jacinto, Eusabio, Benito, and Manuelito

Critical Essays

Major Themes in Death Comes for the Archbishop
Death Comes for the Archbishop as a Catholic Novel

Study Help

Quiz
Essay Questions
Practice Projects

Cite this Literature Note

Which is better, the Twilight books or the movie?

The books.
The movie.

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Study Help

Quiz

1:  Why is Latour is selected as Bishop of the New Mexico?

a. The Vatican wants him to retrieve a valuable painting.

b. The Pope fears the Protestant American government.

c. They require a man with zeal and intelligence.

d. They fear for his life in Ohio.
2:  Latour met Vaillant

a. when they were both Seminary students in France

b. when they lived together in Ohio

c. on a boat that capsized near Galveston, Texas

d. in the French army
3:  The Spanish priest Father Taladrid is brought to New Mexico to replace whom?

a. Padre Marino Lucero

b. Don Antonio Olivares

c. Father Vaillant.

d. Antonio Jose Martinez
4:  Fathers Vaillant and Latour escape murder and robbery

a. when they hear gunshots outside the house

b. when they are warned by a hand signal from Magdalena

c. when Buck Scales is arrested

d. by hiding in Agua Secreta
5:  Father Vaillant goes to Colorado after

a. the Bishop of Leavenworth orders it

b. his brother writes to him about the gold rush

c. he becomes ill with black measles

d. borrowing too much money for the new church.
6:  Why does Latour decline Manuelito’s request to plead the Navajo’s case in Washington, D.C.?

a. Because Kit Carson has warned him about Manuelito

b. Because he wants to build a cathedral on Navajo lands

c. Because he is appalled by the Navajo’s religion.

d. Because he doubts the government will listen to a Catholic priest
7:  After he takes to his death bed, Latour

a. speaks nothing but French

b. repeats the rosary

c. falls silent

d. returns to France
8:  Why is Father Vaillant called back to Rome?

a. To receive orders to start a parish in Arizona

b. To explain the strained finances of his diocese

c. To attend the funeral of Father Latour

d. To visit his sister Philomene
9:  Who says, “It is all the same in a Christian community like ours. We know they will receive religious instruction as they grow up, so we make good Catholics of them in the beginning. Why not?”

a. Baltazar Montoya

b. Antonio Jose Martinez

c. Padre Escolastico Herrera

d. Padre Gallegos
10:  Who says, “Haven’t I just told you that all the trouble there ever was in New Mexico originated in Taos?”

a. Latour

b. Padre Martinez

c. Buck Scales

d. Kit Carson
11:  Who says, “I have a selfish interest; I wish you to be always your charming self and make a little poesie in life for us here. We have not much of that”?

a. Father Vaillant

b. Magdalena

c. Latour

d. Kit Carson
12:  Who says, “Nineteen years, Father; nineteen years since I have seen the holy things of the altar!”

a. Sada

b. Magdalena

c. Inez

d. Philomene
13:  Who says, “Clear off them cheers fur the strangers. They won’t eat ye, if they air priests”?

a. Kit Carson

b. Zeb Orchard

c. Don Manuel Chavez

d. Buck Scales



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