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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. How does Joan feel about meeting with the leader of her country?

2. In Scene 1, what animals does the steward say are not producing?

3. How do the high-ranking officials feel after the Dauphin tells them his decision after speaking with Joan in Scene 2?

4. What is the second item that Robert gives to Joan in Scene 1?

5. After Joan speaks with the Dauphin and his advisers in Scene 2, what does the Dauphin do?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Scene 3, the attitude toward Joan and her supposed powers is variable. How do the men in the castles feel about Joan? How do the men in the trenches with Joan feel about her?

2. How do Joan's colleagues feel about her final decision to liberate Paris?

3. In Scene 4, another man joins the conversation between the nobleman and the chaplain. Who is he and what are his beliefs about and intentions for Joan?

4. In Scene 3, what does Dunois need, and why?

5. What is the purpose of the author including the king's dream and its details in the Epilogue?

6. Joan leaves the castle with the armor, horse and men. She is content with this mini victory. Though Robert has doubts that her mission is sent from God, what happens to change his mind?

7. Why do you think the English officials were quick to label Joan a witch in Scene 4?

8. Describe the end of the king's dream in the Epilogue.

9. Is Robert's decision to help Joan in Scene 1 based on emotion or rationalization? Why?

10. What is the subject of the dream which awakens the king in the Epilogue?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the triggering event for Joan to believe that God has called her for a mission? Is her reaction typical for that time? Do you think if Joan had lived during a different era, her reaction to hearing voices might have been different? What about religion in the Middle Ages would lead a person hearing voices to believe they are hearing the voice of a saint? Joan's convictions are strong and her faith is unshakable. Do you think blind faith was more prevalent and stronger in the Middle Ages than it is today?

Essay Topic 2

Joan's military leadership is an example of gender role reversal. Joan takes on a position which, especially in the Middle Ages, is one almost exclusively held by a man. What are some ways Joan adapts to better fit this role? Does her attitude become more forceful? Does her apparel change? Do you think her change in outward appearance is an attempt to make herself appear more manly, thereby making it easier for the men who make up her troops to accept her?

Essay Topic 3

The supernatural is a strong theme in "Saint Joan: A Chronicle Play in Six Scenes and an Epilogue." How was the supernatural viewed in the Middle Ages? Why is Joan's military prowess and charisma turned into something supernatural rather than attributing it to talent and personality? Why would Joan's supernatural powers be seen as a threat to those in authority and a miracle to those in need?

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