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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. Who is Okawa?

2. What is the name of the village where the Mundys live?

3. What do the back hills people do to celebrate Lughnasa?

4. Why does Maggie worry when Michael can't be seen?

5. What is Kate's nickname at school?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is significant about the names Nora and Nina that Bernie O'Donnell gave to her twin daughters?

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

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

4. What is the difference between the way Kate dances and the dance of the other sisters?

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

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

7. How has Chris brought shame upon the Mundy family?

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

9. For what is the fox in the hen house a metaphor?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Uncle Jack's uniform is an important symbol in this story. Analyze the appearance of his uniform in the mind's eye of young Michael and the rest of his family, and the appearance of his uniform at the end. What does the change represent? How has the family's view of Uncle Jack changed after he has been home for a few weeks?

Essay Topic 2

The passage of time is a theme in this story. When Maggie says, "Lughnasa's almost over, girls. There aren't going to be many warm evenings left." She may be talking of more than the weather for that season. Based on what you learn of future events, what are the "warm evenings," and how are they lost?

Essay Topic 3

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.

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