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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 much money does Stanley say he lost in November and claimed he had a hole in his pocket?

2. The letter that Blanche receives in Act II says that despite all of Frank’s faults, what “have never been his failings”?

3. Kate tells Jack in Act II, “My family were worriers. Worriers generally marry” what?

4. Where does Blanche say she knows a woman she can stay with while she looks for work in Act II?

5. Eugene tells his brother in Act II, “Pop isn’t going to die. He ate” what “tonight”?

Short Essay Questions

1. What have been perceived as the weaknesses of the narrator in Brighton Beach Memoirs?

2. How much time passes between the end of Act I and the opening of Act II? How has the household changed?

3. How does the relationship between Blanche and Kate evolve through the narrative?

4. How does the conflict between Kate and Blanche become resolved in Act II?

5. How does the Jewish heritage of the Jerome/Morton family play into the metaphorical interpretation of the play?

6. Why do Jack and Kate Jerome argue in the beginning of Act II?

7. What other plays are connected in the trilogy that includes Brighton Beach Memoirs?

8. Why does Stanley decide to leave home in Act II? What does he ask Eugene for before he goes?

9. What news does Jack Jerome receive via a letter in the mail in Act II?

10. When does Stanley return home in Act II? Why does he decide to return?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sexuality in Brighton Beach Memoirs

a. Discuss the differences and similarities between male and female sexuality in the play. How do Eugene and Stanley view the women and girls of their household?

b. How are the characters of Kate and Blanche similar? How are they different? How does the playwright illustrate gender expectations and roles in the narrative?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze and discuss the character of Kate Jerome in the play. How old is Kate? How long has she been married to Jack? What characteristics stand out the most through Kate’s interactions with the family?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the internal conflicts presented in Act I within the characters of Eugene, Stanley, Kate, Blanche, Nora, and Laurie. How do these conflicts differ from external conflicts? How do these conflicts drive the plot of the story forward?

(see the answer keys)

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