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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. Where has Harper been the whole time she thought she was in Antarctica?

2. In what city does Roy believe he met Mormons?

3. Which of the following is not a term that Louis uses to describe the lawyers that do not comfort him while he's crying?

4. What is the title of the paperback novel that Belize quotes in Act 3, Scene 2?

5. Which of the following characters does not appear in Act 2, Scene 9?

Short Essay Questions

1. What desperate question does Louis Ironson ask Rabbi Chemelwitz?

2. What final pearls of wisdom does Roy provide to Joe in Act 5, Scene 4?

3. What does Martin Heller say is the result of loading the federal courts with conservative judges?

4. How do people change, according to the Mormon Mother?

5. How does Louis use an explanation of smell in Act 1, Scene 6, as a sexual come-on?

6. How has Prior Walter's illness progressed over the course of Angels in America?

7. Describe the setting of the Epilogue.

8. Why is Hannah lost in Act 3, Scene 4?

9. In Act 2, Scene 5, why does Belize fear that Prior is losing his mind?

10. What does Prior determine about Louis in Act 2, Scene 9?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the beginning of Perestroika, Alexii Antedilluvianovich Prelapsarianov, the oldest living Bolshevik, speaks at length about the importance of Theory when launching a new era. Write an essay about the importance of theory to the central characters of the play. Choose three major characters and analyze the Theory - or lack thereof - that guides them in their actions. Does this Theory ever fail them? Are they searching for something new?

Essay Topic 2

Harper Pitt often communicated with people who are real but not presently in the room with her. In Kushner's world, her hallucinations provide her insight into absent people. Write an essay about three of these occasions. What does she learn from them? How do these experiences all fuel her paranoia and fear and make her feel more isolated?

Part 1) Her mutual dream with Prior in Millennium Approaches

Part 2) Joe Pitt's arrival in Antarctica in the beginning of Perestroika

Part 3) Joe and Louis's argument in the midst of the Diorama at the Mormon Visitor's Center

Essay Topic 3

In Angels in America, Kushner couches his theme of community in relationships. Three romantic relationships dominate the narrative, each saying something about the nature of community in modern America. Write an essay about these three pairings:

Part 1) Prior and Louis are relationship-based on need and ambivalence. To what extent do both men embody these emotions? What drives them apart, and are they ever reconciled?

Part 2) What is the central schism between Harper and Joe Pitt? How do Harper's fears of the world connect to Joe's desires? What is the only thing keeping Joe in the relationship?

Part 3)How is the relationship between Louis and Joe a communion based on self-interest? Does this coupling have a chance of surviving? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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