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. How do the sisters feel about Uncle Jack while he is in the leper colony?

2. How does Kate identify Gerry Evans?

3. What does the storekeeper say the Mundys go through faster than anyone in Ballybeg?

4. Why is Michael disappointed in Uncle Jack?

5. How soon does Kate predict Gerry Evans will come back?

Short Essay Questions

1. How has Uncle Jack brought status to the Mundy family?

2. Why does Kate become angry when Rose repeats the idea that twins are a double blessing?

3. Why do you think the playwright chose to have adult Michael speak the lines of child Michael instead of having two actors?

4. What is Maggie's reaction to hearing that her old friend Bernie O'Donnell is in town, and why does she react this way?

5. What does Chris wear during the sisters' dancing that upsets Kate?

6. What does Maggie recollect about Bernie?

7. We as readers are told that Rose is "simple." How does the playwright make that clear to the audience?

8. After Agnes blows Michael a kiss, she says it was the wrong thing to do. Why would it be the wrong thing to do?

9. What significance does Austin Morgan have in this story?

10. How far do the Mundys live from the rest of the village, and what significance is there in that distance?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What irony do you see in the fact that Kate eventually finds work as a tutor for Austin Morgan's young family? Explain whether this is an example of situational or dramatic irony and why you think so (or do not think so).

Essay Topic 2

The boy Michael compares his parents' silent dancing together to a ritual ceremony like a wedding, and says that after Gerry Evans leaves, his mother grieves as a bride would grieve. Compare and contrast the relationship between Gerry Evans and Chris with a real marriage.

Essay Topic 3

When Rose is lost, the hierarchy within the group of sisters changes. Who is usually in charge and who takes over during the emergency? Using quotations from the play, explain this dynamic and tell why you think the change took place.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 950 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample