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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 did Sam Shepherd chose a farm as the setting of this play?

2. Who is Ansel?

3. What is the backdrop for this play?

4. Who is described as a drunken, ill, argumentative old man?

5. What event resulted because of the disintegration of this family structure?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Tilden at the start of Act 1.

2. Who is the first character to appear in Act 1?

3. Why do you think Tilden acts the way he does?

4. What is Bradley like at the start of the play?

5. Where is Tilden prohibited from going to?

6. What is Halie's frustration over the two brothers, Tilden and Bradley?

7. How do the family members get along in the first act of this play?

8. What is Halie's way of showing her apparent concern for Dodge?

9. What does Halie think about Ansel at the beginning of the story?

10. What might be Bradley's reasons for being so mean?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Let us look at the chosen setting for the story - a farm in Illinois. The chaos of the story greatly contrasts with the calm supposedly offered by a farm. Could a different setting have affected the story? Choose another setting and compare the impact with the farm setting.

Essay Topic 2

Tilden's wife, or Vince's mother was never mentioned in the story. Who could it have been? Was it possible that Halie was Vince's mother and grandmother? What is the information that can support your answer?

Essay Topic 3

Bradley was not mentioned in the later part of the story. What could have happened to him? Where is he when all the chaos was happening?

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