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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 the Horseman do for Alan?

2. What is Alan's answer to Dysart's previous question?

3. What did this rider in #43 call the daily ride?

4. Who shows up to visit Dysart at the end of scene 13?

5. Who is suffering from frequent nightmares?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Dora let her son do that Frank did not?

2. What is the secret that Frank shares with Dysart?

3. What does Alan have to say about the things he said when he was under hypnosis?

4. What are some other ways Alan will change when he is normal?

5. What is the significance of the horse picture?

6. Why does Dysart tell Dora not to come visit Alan anymore?

7. What is the reasoning for Alan's choice of King John as his favorite king of England?

8. What is the next trick Dysart wants to use with Alan?

9. What interrupts Dysart and his thoughts about the hypnosis session with Alan?

10. What happens when someone rides Equus, according to Alan?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The idea of making Alan normal seems to be the direction of the therapy and of the play itself.

Part 1: How is normal defined in this play by Dysart?

Part 2: How would Alan's parents each define normal?

Part 3: Do you think 'normal' is a realistic goal? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

The idea of worship is also a common theme in this play. Loving someone or something without judgment or criticism is something many characters intimately understand.

Part 1: Give examples of how Alan uses worship as a part of his life. What does this say about Alan?

Part 2: Give examples of how Dysart worships in his own life. What does this say about Dysart?

Part 3: Given these ideas of worship, what does the role of worship have to play in the lives of the characters? What does worship provide? Is it a positive or a negative thing?

Essay Topic 3

The horses come to Alan and tell him to never be with a woman again, a powerful part of this play's conclusion.

Part 1: Do you think Alan can maintain this promise to the horses? Why or why not?

Part 2: Why do you think this promise is asked of Alan by the horses?

Part 3: Why does Alan blind the horses in the end? What is he symbolically trying to blind from seeing?

(see the answer keys)

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