How does Clarke present Merowdis’s choices and visions? To what extent do you think she has free will, and how does this alter the story’s meaning?

Write a short creative piece that imagines what happens to Merowdis after her disappearance, drawing closely on the language and motifs of the source text.

Research the saintly figure of St. Francis of Assisi in Christianity. In what ways do you think the story draws on this cultural allusion, and how does knowledge of it inform your reading?