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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. What does the professor say the pupil has a tendency to always do when doing arithmetic?

2. In order to articulate, the professor suggests you do what?

3. Who tells a story about seeing a man in the underground reading a newspaper in The Bald Soprano?

4. Who, in the course of The Lesson, loses gaiety to become withdrawn and morose?

5. What is the maid's name in The Bald Soprano?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Absurdism and how does it inhabit the four plays of the book?

2. Describe the doorbell in The Bald Soprano.

3. What initial conversation takes place between the professor and the pupil in The Lesson?

4. What does the maid interrupt the professor and pupil for?

5. What do the maid and the professor do at the end of The Lesson?

6. What does Mary say in her aside to the audience in The Bald Soprano?

7. Describe the distinguishing qualities of the set and the Smiths in The Bald Soprano.

8. How does the ending of The Lesson relate to the other plays' endings in the collection?

9. What is similar about The Bald Soprano to the other plays in the book?

10. As the lesson continues, how does the professor's and the pupil's demeanor change?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare the Smiths and the Martins in The Bald Soprano. How do these characters switch roles in the play? What is the meaning of this?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Absurdism and how it applies to all four plays from the collection.

Essay Topic 3

Describe the title of the play, The Bald Soprano. Where does this line occur in the text? What is the significance of this?

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This section contains 858 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample