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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 Gerry Evans think Agnes should do for a living?

2. Where does Gerry Evans hide when Agnes comes back from picking blackberries?

3. How old is Michael when he receives the letter from the other Michael Evans?

4. Where does Gerry Evans sign up to join the Spanish army?

5. Who is Gerry Evans imitating when he leaves Ballybeg?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why might Agnes have believed Rose could not get work in the factory?

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

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

4. How did Michael behave as his father, Gerry Evans, had done?

5. Who does Maggie forget to count when she is calculating people they must feed for dinner?

6. 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?

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

8. What significance can we attach to Uncle Jack's declaration that he is cold all the time?

9. 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?

10. How does the Industrial Revolution affect the lives of the Mundy sisters?

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 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?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast the Ryangan idea of marriage with what Kate calls the "holy sacrament of matrimony." Judging from the main characters and their romantic relationships, make a statement comparing the costs and benefits of both kinds of marriage. Cite quotations from the play to support your thesis.

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This section contains 851 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample