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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 Epstein want to do to the two men who abused him?

2. Does Eugene have sex with the prostitute?

3. What does Wykowski say that the prostitute told him?

4. Who is with a prostitute at the beginning of the scene?

5. Where is Act 1, Scene 3 set?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Hennessey react when Toomey asks Hennessey to follow him?

2. What does Rowena say about her home life?

3. How does Eugene convince Daisy to kiss him?

4. What does Arnold's fantasy say about his character?

5. Describe Arnold Epstein's eating habits.

6. What does it show about Carney's character that he talks to Eugene about what Eugene wrote?

7. What does Eugene say when Wykowski asks if he means what he wrote?

8. Compare Carney and Selridge's fantasies.

9. How does Eugene feel at the end of Act 2, Scene 2?

10. At the end of Act 2, Scene 7, how does Eugene say his relationship with Daisy has developed?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the role of religion in the play.

1) How seriously do the characters take their religions? What influences do the characters' religions have on them?

2) How is Daisy affected by Catholicism and by going to a Catholic school? How does her religious background affect her relationship with Eugene?

3) Are the soldiers' perceptions of Jewish people based in religion, or do they have a different basis?

Essay Topic 2

A major structural feature of the play is the soliloquies delivered by Eugene. Discuss the use of soliloquies in the play.

1) Why does the author include soliloquies that give the audience insight into Eugene's thoughts? Why does the author use Eugene's notebooks as the source of these soliloquies?

2) How would the play be different if Eugene did not talk to the audience? How would it shift the focus of the play?

3) What does the audience learn about Eugene from his actions alone, and how does this differ from what the audience learns from hearing Eugene's thoughts and writings?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss humor in the play.

1) How do the characters use humor in their interactions? How do they use humor as insults? How does humor form part of their friendship?

2) In what ways does the author use humor in the play? How does the author combine serious issues such as prejudice and war with humor?

(see the answer keys)

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