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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 professor wear when entering in The Lesson?

2. Where is Mrs. Martin originally from in The Bald Soprano?

3. Who says, "we can't be sure of anything, young lady, in this world"?

4. Where would the professor just as soon live in The Lesson?

5. In order to articulate, the professor suggests you do what?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What does the maid interrupt the professor and pupil for?

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

5. What do the maid and the professor do at the end of The Lesson?

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

7. What is similar about The Bald Soprano to the other plays in the book?

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

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

10. What initial conversation takes place between the professor and the pupil in The Lesson?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Compare the characters of Jack, from Jack, or The Submission, and the Pupil from The Lesson. How are they similar? How are they different?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the Nazi armband in the play, The Lesson. What is the significance of this? How does its use break from typical absurdist style?

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