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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. How does Dorothea feel about her husband?

2. What do the wings represent to Artie?

3. What does Dorothea value over motherhood?

4. When Artie is _______________ she becomes pregnant.

5. What is Dorothea's reaction to Artie's pregnancy?

Short Essay Questions

1. Artie begins and ends scene two. What do we learn about the character?

2. What are the basic relationships between the Westbrook women?

3. Who is the controller in the play? Who is being controlled?

4. What skill does Echo have, and how does this skill become a form of communication between Echo and her mother?

5. Why does Artie feel that she was Dorothea's guinea pig as she grew up?

6. What is the opening action of this play, and what does this foreshadow?

7. Who is Artie named after and how does this name match her personality?

8. Why does Dorothea decide to take on a life of eccentricity?

9. Why does Artie feel her ability to remember everything is an inconvenience?

10. Why do you think Dorothea has such high expectations of Artie?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At some points in the play, Artie seems to have freed herself of her past and becomes a successful, functioning, happy individual. At what point is this true, and which events turn her life back around into the character she again becomes at the end of the play?

Essay Topic 2

In scene 5, the cross country drive west back to Dorothea's home is recounted. Echo was too young to remember the trip, but both Dorothea and Artie recount their memorable stops along the way. What do these stops indicate about Dorothea and Artie?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Echo's treatment of the little boy at the spelling bee. Why does Echo act so cruelly, which is seemingly out of character for her?

(see the answer keys)

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