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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What aspects of his personality does Abelard attribute to his native region?
(a) His volatile personality.
(b) His even temper.
(c) His devotion.
(d) His love of women.

2. What does Abelard say he wants others' prayers to help him avoid?
(a) Going to hell.
(b) Being harmed further.
(c) Being killed.
(d) Being exiled.

3. How, in Letter 5, does Abelard say Heloise should see him now?
(a) As her enemy.
(b) As her partner in guilt and grace.
(c) As her saint.
(d) As her deliverer.

4. Why does Abelard say that Heloise deserves praise?
(a) Because of her kind letter to him.
(b) Because of her devotion to God.
(c) Because she entered the convent.
(d) Because she disavows praise.

5. What does Abelard ask Heloise to consider?
(a) The power of prayer.
(b) The power of virtuous men.
(c) The inevitability of justice.
(d) The inevitability of suffering.

6. Where was Abelard born?
(a) Nantes.
(b) Paris.
(c) Nancy.
(d) Le Pallet.

7. Why did Abelard originally send Heloise away?
(a) To sequester her away from suitors.
(b) To hide her pregnancy.
(c) To avoid the disgrace of a hasty marriage.
(d) To let her recover from illness.

8. In what way did Abelard establish his reputation and earn a following?
(a) Debating philosophy.
(b) Debating scripture.
(c) Studying with Anselm of Laon.
(d) Fighting with William of Champeaux.

9. What does Heloise say, in Letter 4, she cannot find?
(a) Penitence.
(b) Obedience.
(c) Patience.
(d) Devotion.

10. Whom does Abelard want to pray for him?
(a) Heloise's father.
(b) Only Heloise.
(c) The men who castrated him.
(d) Heloise and the nuns.

11. How does Heloise describe her and Abelard's story?
(a) Sad and moving.
(b) Moral and instructive.
(c) Appalling and outrageous.
(d) Tragic and unbearable.

12. What else does Heloise ask Abelard to think about?
(a) Whether his sin was responsible for his suffering.
(b) How much she has served him.
(c) What will constitute justice, in his situation.
(d) How long his penance should last.

13. In Letter 5, what does Abelard say he is surprised by?
(a) Heloise's devotion.
(b) Heloise's bitterness.
(c) Heloise's refusal to accept her situation.
(d) Heloise's lustfulness.

14. How does Heloise open her first letter to Abelard?
(a) By saying that she saw a letter her father was going to send to his henchmen.
(b) By saying that she saw a letter he had written to a friend.
(c) By saying that she saw a letter the abbot was going to send to Abelard.
(d) By saying that she saw a letter her father had written to the abbot.

15. What does Abelard say he will do to Heloise in Letter 5?
(a) Enlighten her.
(b) Disappoint her.
(c) Pray for her.
(d) Encourage her.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who was Abelard's second enemy in the university system?

2. What does Abelard ask Heloise to do if he is killed?

3. In Letter 4, for what does Heloise say she is grateful?

4. What was Abelard's father's plan for Abelard?

5. To what does Abelard return in his third letter to Heloise?

(see the answer keys)

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