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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 Father Flynn tell the boys girls will do if you approach them with "filthy paws?"

2. What is Sister James' response when Sister Aloysius asks her if Donald Muller is being accepted.

3. What does Father Flynn tell Ralph he thinks is funny?

4. In Scene 2, what does Sister Aloysius want Sister James to be with the children?

5. In Scene 4, what does Sister Aloysius say that she wouldn't mind being?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Sister Aloysius' work with the rosebush similar to her work at the school?

2. Why does Father Flynn say it's important to have a routine for shooting a free throw?

3. Why does Sister Aloysius say she cannot afford an excessively innocent teacher?

4. Why does Father Flynn say it is dangerous to think at the foul line?

5. In Scene 1, why does Father Flynn say a private calamity is worse than a public one?

6. In Scene 2, what does Sister Aloysius refer to when she says that every easy choice today has a consequence tomorrow?

7. In Scene 5, what makes Father Flynn have an idea to preach a sermon on intolerance?

8. Why does Sister Aloysius think William London is headed for trouble?

9. How do we know that this play is set in 1964?

10. In Scene 2, what is Sister Aloysius talking about when she asks: what good is a gift when it is left in the box?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the importance of gender roles in the play? How do they affect the interactions of the characters and the plot?

Essay Topic 2

Parables are used in a number of ways throughout the play. We see them in the sermons Father Flynn delivers and in the play itself. Describe what a parable is, identify at least two parables and the lessons they teach that were given in sermons during the play, and discuss how the play itself fits the model of a parable. What lesson is the play intended to teach?

Essay Topic 3

The Catholic church is almost a character unto itself in Doubt: A Parable. Describe how the church hierarchy affects the characters and plot of the play. How do the nuns and priests interact with each other? If they were not governed by the church, how might the story have ended differently? Provide evidence from the play to support your ideas.

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