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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 overhears what Agnes has been saying about Claire?

2. What does Agnes worry about more than she worries about going mad?

3. What is Claire's affliction?

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

5. Tobias is tired of Julia showing up at the house with __________________.

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Agnes instinctively know about her guests and the chaos currently in her home?

2. What incident serves as some comedic relief during another one of Julia's whining episodes?

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

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

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

6. What does Agnes cite as the beginning of her marriage to Tobias?

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

8. How old are Agnes and Tobias?

9. What shocking news does Harry share with Tobias in private?

10. Julia arrives home but does not understand something she encounters. What is it?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Project into the future ten years and write a brief synopsis for the lives of Tobias, Agnes, Julia, Claire, Harry and Edna. Be sure to include emotional states as well as physical characteristics, geographic locations, work, hobbies, socialization, etc.

Essay Topic 2

Albee uses more than one instance of irony in the book. One example is the clarity with which the alcoholic Claire can view life. Cite at least two other examples you can identify in the play and note why they are examples of irony.

Essay Topic 3

Alcohol abuse seems to be an unnamed character in the book. How pervasive is the abuse? Why does it have such a prevalent place in the characters' lives? How does it affect the abusers? How does it affect those impacted by the abusers? Explain how an inanimate object or characteristic can be a character.

(see the answer keys)

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