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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 does Gerry Evans get to Ballybeg?

2. How many pairs of gloves must the sisters produce this week?

3. How soon does Kate predict Gerry Evans will come back?

4. What infuriates Agnes about Kate?

5. What animals does Maggie feed?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Maggie mean when she tells Michael that someday he's going to fill some woman's life with happiness?

2. How does Kate feel about Michael, and how can you tell?

3. What does Maggie recollect about Bernie?

4. What does Chris wear during the sisters' dancing that upsets Kate?

5. How has Uncle Jack brought status to the Mundy family?

6. What does Maggie notice about the pack of cigarettes Kate brought her, and why is it significant?

7. Why do you think young Michael felt unease rather than amusement or joy when his mother and aunts danced?

8. When Irish music comes from the radio, which of the sisters begins to dance first, and in what mood does she dance?

9. What does Maggie release for Michael to see?

10. Why does Chris call Danny Bradley a bastard?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Gerry Evans' character is in many ways an act. He pretends to be a salesman, but can't sell. He pretends to be fighting for a noble cause in Spain, but doesn't know for sure what that cause is. In Michael's last glimpse of him, he is imitating Fred Astaire. After his father's war injury, Michael tells us that Gerry Evans cherished the "role" of wounded war veteran. Analyze Gerry Evans' role as almost a husband, and almost a father. Do you see him as evil and harmful? Do you see him as helpless and hopeless? Is there a tragic flaw in his character - or several? If so, what are they?

Essay Topic 2

At different times in the play, every character dances except for Michael. Select two of the characters and analyze the dance of each. What does their dance mean? What does the dance tell the audience about the character? If you select Michael as one of the characters, explain why you think he is the only one who does not dance.

Essay Topic 3

The music of the 1930s has an important role in this play, as it had on the characters' lives. Analyze what you think the playwright was showing us, the audience, with the use of "Anything Goes" and "Dancing in the Dark." Listen to these once-popular songs on the Internet before writing about them, as a great deal more than the title is to be learned from them.

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