How would you characterize the differences between Anna’s correspondence with Erasmus and with Daniel? How are these correspondences similar? Based on the letters Ozment reproduces, put yourself in the role of Anna and write one final letter to each suitor expressing your true feelings about each man without any of the filters of rank and formality present in the existing correspondence.

Is Anna’s legal struggle and her lifelong enmity with family only imaginable in the distant past? What about Anna’s life is unique to the 16th century? What about Anna’s story is timeless? If somebody exactly like Anna existed in the modern age, what sort of consequences (if any) might her actions provoke from her family and from her local government?

Compare Hermann Büschler and Philip Büschler in their dealings with Anna. Were they both villains? How were their actions different? What motivations informed their behavior toward Anna? Who, in your opinion, is the more sympathetic character? Why?