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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 did Abelard seduce Heloise?

2. What does Heloise ask Abelard in her first letter?

3. What does Heloise say about herself?

4. What does Heloise remind Abelard of?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Abelard say errors must be corrected?

2. What is Heloise's response to Peter the Venerable?

3. How does Abelard end Letter 7?

4. What reason does Abelard give for writing to Heloise again in Letter 5?

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

6. Describe Abelard's arguments in favor of an abbess in charge of the convent.

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

8. What does Abelard ask Heloise to stop doing in the future?

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

10. What stance does Abelard take in Letter 5?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Research the history of the letters of Abelard and Heloise. By what mechanisms were they transmitted to posterity? Who made sure that these letters survived? Were they ever in danger of being lost? What value do written texts have to Abelard and Heloise and their culture? What makes the written absolution important? What provision is made for the preservation of textual culture?

Essay Topic 2

Reading the text closely, describe Abelard and Heloise. What do we know about them based not only on what they tell us, but their style of writing as well?

Essay Topic 3

Prepare an argument for or against the proposition that the best way for wealthy people to gain virtue is to give up their possessions and practice poverty.

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