View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Michael say the characters in the play respond to more than the beat of the music?

2. To whom does Maggie compare herself when she dances?

3. What phrase comforts Kate when she thinks of Uncle Jack's pagan worship?

4. Which sister is dead when Michael finds them?

5. Why is Gerry Evans in the tree in Act 2?

Short Essay Questions

1. What phrase did Kate hit upon that comforted her as she tried to understand Uncle Jack's changed attitude toward life since his stay in Ryanda?

2. What news does Rose bring her family about the boy who was burned during the Lughnasa fires?

3. Where did Gerry Evans sign up for military service, and why is that location significant?

4. When Uncle Jack hears wedding bells, he asks if it is one of his sisters who is getting married. Who is actually marrying?

5. There are important facts about the Spanish Civil War that Gerry Evans does not understand. One is that the Popular Front represents a Fascist, rather than a Republican, government. The other is that the Popular Front is anti-Catholic. How is this ignorance on his part ironic?

6. What does Uncle Jack reveal about his ministry in Ryanga when Maggie asks if the people there gathered in his church for ceremonies?

7. How is the Ryangan harvest festival described by Uncle Jack similar to the festival of Lughansa?

8. What do you make of the kites as a symbol or metaphor, and of the fact that they wouldn't fly?

9. How did Michael behave as his father, Gerry Evans, had done?

10. Maggie asks Michael a riddle about the apples on a tree. What might those apples symbolize?

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

When Rose is lost, the hierarchy within the group of sisters changes. Who is usually in charge and who takes over during the emergency? Using quotations from the play, explain this dynamic and tell why you think the change took place.

Essay Topic 3

The passage of time is a theme in this story. When Maggie says, "Lughnasa's almost over, girls. There aren't going to be many warm evenings left." She may be talking of more than the weather for that season. Based on what you learn of future events, what are the "warm evenings," and how are they lost?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 975 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample