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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What mistake does Weller make in the card game at the end of Act 1?
(a) Of calling out gin before his hand is completed.
(b) Of discarding a card he needs.
(c) Of discarding a card he know Fonsia needs.
(d) Of calling out the cards he needs.

2. When Weller begins losing his temper at the game, Fonsia threatens what?
(a) To stop playing.
(b) To start keeping score herself.
(c) To start playing seriously.
(d) To beat him without letting him score a single point.

3. What illness does Weller claim he suffers from in Act One?
(a) An advanced case of old age.
(b) An advanced case of hum bug.
(c) An advanced case writer's block.
(d) An advanced case of tooth decay.

4. What mistake does Fonsia make in the first hand of the first game that spoils the round?
(a) Fonsia calls gin without discarding.
(b) Fonsia tells Weller she has all four aces.
(c) Fonsia lays her cards up face first.
(d) Fonsia lays down a pair without having gin.

5. What best describes the relationship between Weller and his children?
(a) They have a combative relationsip.
(b) They have lost touch with one another.
(c) They have a mistrusting relationship.
(d) They have a 'fiscal' relationship.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the minimum number of cards needed for a straight in gin?

2. Fonsia wins the first gin game by doing what?

3. What is the name of Fonsia's oldest grandchild?

4. How could Weller's statement that 'Gin is a relaxing game,' bear out in Act 1, Scene 2?

5. What is Weller's reaction to the televangelist?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Weller's immediate reaction to Fonsia's distress in Act 1, Scene 1, and what does this suggest about his character?

2. In Act 1, Scene 2, Weller states that "half of them are catatonic... and... the ones who do talk make you appreciate the ones who don't." Who is the quote in regards to, and what is it about the talking that bothers both characters?

3. What does Gladys Mayes represent in the play?

4. How does Weller's choice of profanity conform to the opening action in Act 1, Scene 2?

5. What about the Presbyterian home threatens both characters?

6. What is the simple truth about old age homes - a truth not even wealth can correct, according to Weller? How might the two characters thwart this truth?

7. What does Fonsia's childhood suggest about her character?

8. In Act 1, Scene 2, what according to Weller "seems to happen quite a lot to [Fonsia]," and how could this be seen as helpful to the writing of the play?

9. What does the moment of faintness that Fonsia suffers in Act 1, Scene 2 reveal about the two characters?

10. How does Fonsia win the last hand of Act 1, Scene 1, and what might this foreshadow?

(see the answer keys)

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