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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. Why can Sigismund not see his father and mother, according to Julian?

2. What is heard at the gate?

3. The King reminds him that everything he did to his son, Sigismund, he did on who's advice?

4. Sigismund says he feels so powerful that he can do what?

5. What does Olivier think he hears being passed back and forth?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the purpose of the sponge?

2. What is Adam's job?

3. Why does the Prisoner torment others?

4. What happens to the singing? When does this happen?

5. How does the play end?

6. What did the prophecy contain?

7. What does the King hope about Ignatius?

8. What does the conversation with the Peasant Woman reveal?

9. How does Olivier speak to those around him at the beginning of the scene?

10. What is heard in the distance?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The confrontation between Sigismund and the King in the second part of the third act is the play's first climax.

Part 1) Describe the confrontation. Why does the confrontation take place? How is this confrontation foreshadowed?

Part 2) What does this confrontation symbolize? How do you know this?

Part 3) What can a reader or audience member learn from this confrontation? What is the purpose of this confrontation?

Essay Topic 2

Act 5, Part 2 is a climactic scene.

Part 1) Describe this scene. How is it climactic?

Part 2) How has the rest of the play led up to this climax?

Part 3) Is the outcome of this climax what you had expected? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Negative comments are made about Jews.

Part 1) What are the comments that are made? Why are they made?

Part 2) How would audiences in 1930s Germany react to these comments? Would their reactions different from how audiences would react today? Why or why not?

Part 3) What is the author's opinion of Jews, based on this play? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

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