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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. Why does Abelard say he filled Heloise with despair in his letter?

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

3. Where was Abelard born?

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

5. What does Abelard say motivated him to tell Heloise the things that filled her with despair?

Short Essay Questions

1. What contrast does Abelard draw with women's practices and men's?

2. To what does Heloise appeal, in Letter 6, in justifying her argument?

3. What does Abelard assure to Heloise in Letter 3?

4. In Letter 7, what examples of women in the church does Abelard use from antiquity?

5. In Letter 2, what does Heloise say her motive for writing was?

6. What does Heloise say she did on Abelard's sake?

7. Where did Abelard go after he went to St. Denis?

8. What does Heloise say about answering Abelard's requests of her?

9. What occasioned Heloise's letter to Abelard?

10. What does Abelard say he wants Heloise to do in case of his death?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the effect of the letters between Abelard and Heloise? Describe the consequences of their correspondence, in terms of their own lives, and in terms of the lives of the monks and nuns they knew, and in terms of the monastic order.

Essay Topic 2

Describe the benefits of the Rules Abelard prescribes for Heloise and her nuns. What are the direct and indirect benefits of the Rules? Who benefits by them? How are the benefits reckoned, and are there other ways to look at the virtues of the Rules?

Essay Topic 3

Make an annotated map of the places where Abelard and Heloise's story unfolded, including Abelard's late travels. What does the map show us about the story? How did the landscape and geography affect the story?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 583 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample