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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 A feel about the fact that most of her friends are dead?

2. Why does B get irritated with C in Act 1, Part 2?

3. Who was A taller than?

4. What did A's husband often buy her?

5. What did the doctors tell A to do for her husband's infected shoulder?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does B mean when she says that they were with one man for forty years, "more or less"?

2. What is the significance of A, B, and C's lack of names?

3. What does B represent?

4. How does A react while she is telling the bracelet story?

5. What does A say about her reconciliation with her son in Act 2, Part 3?

6. What happened during the bracelet incident?

7. How does A describe her relationship with Sis in Act 1, Part 3?

8. What happens in the premonition that A describes in Act 2, Part 4?

9. What does A say about her personal strength, in Act 1, Part 4?

10. How do A and C feel about jewelry?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Fear of death and making peace with that fear is an important theme in the play. What is C's attitude toward death? What about B's? How does A feel about death? How does her attitude differ from B's and C's? What changes have enabled A to come to terms with her fear of death? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 2

A tells her son of a premonition she had about her death. What are the most important details in this premonition? What is the significance of A's hand being cold when the son takes it? Why does A repeat this fact over and over? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 3

What is one of the major differences between A and Sis? Why did A feel superior to Sis because of her joy in sex? How did A lose her joy in sex? What effect did this have on A's character? How did it affect her relationship with Sis? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 800 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample