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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 old is Michael when this story takes place?

2. How old Is Uncle Jack?

3. What does Gerry Evans think the radio is when he hears it?

4. What medication does Uncle Jack take?

5. What does the Mundy family use as fuel for the stove?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What does Maggie notice about the pack of cigarettes Kate brought her, and why is it significant?

4. From what does Kate struggle to protect her home when they joke about naming the radio?

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

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

7. What does Agnes mean when she asks Chris, "Do you want to make a pagan of yourself?"

8. How does Kate explain Uncle Jack's strange behavior?

9. Why do you think the opening tableau shows Uncle Jack in his "resplendent" uniform, which is out of place in the play's action?

10. Why do you think the parish priest doesn't want to look Kate in the eye since Uncle Jack came home?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Rose is described as "simple," yet she is the one who informs the family about goings-on in the village and in the world around them. How do you imagine that she gets this information, and what does it tell you about her and the way the family views her? Use examples from the play to explore Rose's character. Do her sisters understand her? Does she understand them? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Dancing is a central metaphor in this play, and Michael ends the play with a monologue about what dance meant to him. Compare and contrast the effects of dance on him as a boy, when he is frightened by the wild, strange behavior of his family members as they dance, with his reflections on dance at the end of the play.

Essay Topic 3

Analyze what it means to you that young Michael's kites have faces that are cruel and grinning, and that they are not able to fly. Why do you think the playwright put this element into his play? What do these kites tell you about young Michael's feelings toward the women in his family? Toward life in general?

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