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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. About what people is Anastasius writing a book dealing with their history?

2. Which side wins the first battle?

3. Whose army arrives to save the people of Rome from the Saracens?

4. Who captures Benedict on the road to Rome?

5. What does Joan know about the Saracens that makes her fear for the safety of Rome?

Short Essay Questions

1. What truth does Joan learn when she sees Gerold again? How does Joan react to Gerold's request to run away?

2. What miracle does Joan create in order to stop the fighting between Pope Sergius and Lothar?

3. Who starts the fire that burns the new wall Pope Leo is building and destroys several other buildings, including the school? Why?

4. Who does Gerold support in the battle between the dead Emperor's three sons?

5. What warning does Joan give Pope Sergius in the face of the Saracen attack that he does not heed?

6. What does Joan implement in order to help slow the spread of the plague during Church services?

7. To what office does Anastasius aspire? For what reason?

8. What project does Joan immediately give to Gerold to oversee as she becomes Pope?

9. How does Joan prove Gerold innocent during his trial for treason?

10. Who arrests Benedict? What punishment does he suffer?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Joan's relationship with Gerold. How does Gerold feel about Joan? Would Gerold marry Joan even though she pretends to be a man? Why does Joan repeatedly refuse to run away with Gerold? Whose advice causes Joan to hesitate to be reliant on a man? Are Joan and Gerold lovers? When do they become lovers? How does this relationship threaten Joan's future as Pope? How does this romance ultimately lead to Joan's death and the revelation she is female?

Essay Topic 2

Who is Anastasius? Why does his father force him to watch the murder of his father? What emotions do this episode inspire in Anastasius? Why does the author introduce Anastasius this early in the novel? What does Anastasius' witnessing of the murder and his appearance this early in the novel foreshadow as the plot continues to develop? Is Anastasius' father looking out for his son or is he trying to promote some agenda of his own?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss one of the following themes, citing examples from the novel:

1. Oppression of women

2. Religion

3. Politics.

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