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. Because of the objectionable content of the play, what did Wedekind have to do for the play to be printed?

2. How does Bentley describe Moritz and Melchior in relationship to each other?

3. Who keeps Melchior from committing suicide?

4. What happened to Martha when her parents saw her with a ribbon on her nightgown?

5. Who do the girls in this play find very attractive?

Short Essay Questions

1. According to the summary in the introduction, what will happen to Melchior?

2. How does this play fit into both genres of expressionism and realism?

3. What does Moritz reveal himself completely ignorant about in Act I, Scene 2?

4. What is pointed out to Moritz in Act I, scene 4 that deflates his happiness?

5. What conflicts does Bentley discuss were essential to Wedekind during the writing of "Spring Awakening"? Why?

6. What does Moritz do in Act I, Scene 4 that nearly gets him in trouble? Why?

7. Why is this play described as "coming-of-age?"

8. Why does Moritz not want to listen to Melchior's explanations about sex?

9. What happened to "Spring Awakening" in America after publication? Why?

10. How does Bentley describe Moritz and Melchior in relation to each other in his introduction?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Wedekind intertwine sex and violence? How is this a theme of the play? What characters appear to embody this idea? How does Goethe's "Faust" relate to this? How is this enacted on stage? Cite specific examples from the text to support your answers.

Essay Topic 2

Choose one of the following topics to write about:

- Discuss Hanschen's relationship with "Venus."

- Discuss Ilse's story of the artist who kept threatening to kill her.

- Discuss the names of the professors.

Essay Topic 3

Early in the play, Moritz says, "Melchior, don't you also think that man's sense of shame is just a product of his education?" One of the themes of this play deals with the enforced ignorance of the younger generation and the natural ignorance of the adults. Write an essay about the use of ignorance in this play as it relates to Moritz's statement in the following format:

Part 1) Discuss Mrs. Bergmann's insistence on keeping Wendla innocent.

Part 2) Discuss the adults being unaware of Moritz's torment and Wendla's pregnancy.

Part 3) Discuss the ignorance of nearly all the students about sex and pregnancy.

Part 4) Discuss the reaction Melchior's knowledge of sex has on the adults.

Cite specific examples from the text to support your answers.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,074 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample