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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 does Michael say language surrenders to in music?

2. What do Agnes and Rose tell the family not to do?

3. What does Gerry Evans say they need to check if the aerial is all right but the radio still won't work?

4. How is Gerry Evans wounded in Spain?

5. What work does Kate find after leaving her teaching job?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Uncle Jack reveal about his relationship to Okawa when he speaks about his time in Uganda?

2. What phrase did Kate hit upon that comforted her as she tried to understand Uncle Jack's changed attitude toward life since his stay in Ryanda?

3. What news does Rose bring her family about the boy who was burned during the Lughnasa fires?

4. Maggie asks Michael a riddle about the apples on a tree. What might those apples symbolize?

5. How does Uncle Jack reveal that the Ryangans have not been converted to Christianity by his efforts?

6. Why does Gerry Evans decide to go to war in a foreign country?

7. When Uncle Jack hears wedding bells, he asks if it is one of his sisters who is getting married. Who is actually marrying?

8. There are important facts about the Spanish Civil War that Gerry Evans does not understand. One is that the Popular Front represents a Fascist, rather than a Republican, government. The other is that the Popular Front is anti-Catholic. How is this ignorance on his part ironic?

9. What do you make of the kites as a symbol or metaphor, and of the fact that they wouldn't fly?

10. What does it tell you about Gerry Evans that he says he will check the ignition and sparking plugs of the radio?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

The playwright, Brian Friel, uses the character Michael to tell the audience the eventual fate of the characters before the play itself is finished. How did knowing where the characters' actions would lead them affect you as a reader? Did you find it an effective dramatic device?

(see the answer keys)

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