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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 Julia's husband?

2. Who does not understand Agnes's actions in Act 2, Scene 1?

3. How old is Tobias?

4. Who overhears what Agnes has been saying about Claire?

5. How can most of the characters in the house be characterized?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the topic that supersedes Agnes's obsession with madness?

2. What are Julia's comments about the evening's dinner?

3. What prompts the unexpected arrival of Edna and Harry?

4. What is the setting for Act 1 of A DELICATE BALANCE?

5. What is the setting for Act 2, Scene 2 and which characters are present as the scene opens?

6. What is the simile that Tobias uses to describe Julia's marriages?

7. What does Julia do when Tobias tries to get her to understand that she is responsible for her life?

8. Why is Agnes so leery of Julia's arrival?

9. How does Tobias respond to Agnes talk about going mad?

10. Why is Agnes and Tobias's daughter, Julia, coming home again?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Agnes seems to be the character who maintains the delicate balance in the play. How does Agnes do this? What is her internal code? What does Agnes do when things seem in danger or reaching a tipping point? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

Explain the symbolism of Julia's bedroom. What does it mean for Julia? What does it mean that Harry and Edna have barricaded themselves in the room? Are there any other significant meanings that the bedroom adds to the story?

Essay Topic 3

Explain the role of married women in the 1960s when the women in the novel are living their married lives. What precedents do they feel compelled to follow? What restrictions do the have? What freedoms did they have that twenty-first century women do not have?

(see the answer keys)

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