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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. The Smiths were given seven silver what for their wedding in The Bald Soprano?

2. How many strokes does the "English clock" strike at the beginning of The Bald Soprano?

3. Where is Mr. Martin originally from in The Bald Soprano?

4. When did Mr. Martin leave his hometown in The Bald Soprano?

5. What did the Smiths' son want to drink at dinner?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Absurdism and how does it inhabit the four plays of the book?

2. As the lesson continues, how does the professor's and the pupil's demeanor change?

3. How does the professor attempt to teach the pupil arithmetic?

4. Describe the professor's discourse on philology.

5. What is the beginning conversation between the Smiths and the Martins like?

6. What does Mary say in her aside to the audience in The Bald Soprano?

7. Why are the initial stage directions atypical in The Lesson?

8. Which objects in The Lesson are "real?" Which are not?

9. What object does the professor take from the shelf? What does he do with it?

10. What do the stage directions in the beginning of The Lesson detail?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Absurdism and how it applies to all four plays from the collection.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the ending of the play, The Chairs. What happens in the ending? Why? What is the point of the orator's words or lack thereof?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the ending of the play Jack, or The Submission. What occurs and what is the symbolic meaning of this ending?

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