For this essay, I will give you a choice of topics, since what The Cheese and the Worms covers, and the issues it raises, are various.  Choose one topic below and write a well-supported, thesis based essay of 4-6 pages. 

You may not use outside sources for this essay.  Moreover, I would suggest that you read as much of the book as possible before attempting to answer these questions.

• Is Menocchio a heretic?  Defend and explain your answer.
   
• What role did "learning" -- defined however you think is relevant -- play in Menocchio's life?
   
• Menocchio claims that his religious beliefs were really a gateway to, or an encapsulation of, a "new world."  Explain the origins and implications of this phrase for the baker.
   
• A great deal of Church doctrine seems to be lurking behind Menocchio's story.  As best as you can, lay out the tenets of, and opposition between, Catholicisim and various Christian sects, © 1580.
   
• Compare and contrast the voice and style of Ginzburg himself in his preface, his main text, and his footnotes.  Your goal here is to demonstrate specific ways in which they're distinct and to postulate why.