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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 does Elwood Dowd get from behind a book on the bookcase?
(a) A bottle of liquor.
(b) A pair of reading glasses.
(c) A bottle of arsenic.
(d) An atlas of Europe.

2. What is Myrtle Mae Simmons' attitude toward Elwood Dowd?
(a) She loves him very deeply because he is eccentric.
(b) She finds him rude and obnoxious.
(c) She is fearful for his life.
(d) She is embarrassed by him.

3. What is Veta Simmons trying to do at the sanitarium?
(a) Create a business partnership with Ruth Kelly.
(b) Introduce Myrtle Mae Simmons to Wilson.
(c) Have Elwood Dowd commited for evaluation.
(d) Evaluate the facilities for future fund-raising events.

4. What are Veta Simmons and Ruth Kelly talking about?
(a) The weather.
(b) The conditions at Chumley's Rest.
(c) The latest hit song on the radio.
(d) Elwood Dowd.

5. Who else besides Elwood Dowd can see his invisible friend?
(a) Anyone Elwood Dowd introduces his friend to.
(b) No-one else.
(c) Whomever the invisible friend wishes to see it.
(d) Just Elwood Dowd's immediate family.

Short Answer Questions

1. With whom does Veta Simmons speak next on the telephone?

2. Myrtle Mae Simmons answers the phone as the first scene begins. Who is calling?

3. What does Dr. William Chumley do to Dr. Lyman Sanderson when he finds out they admitted the wrong patient?

4. According to the dialogue in this scene between Veta SImmons and Ethel Chauvenet, do the two women see each other often?

5. What words appear at the bottom of the page that Wilson is reading when the scene ends?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Dr. Lyman Sanderson believe is Veta Simmons' motivation for coming to the sanitarium and telling him about Elwood Dowd and Harvey?

2. Describe Elwood Dowd.

3. What does Ruth Kelly fear about "accidentally" committing Elwood Dowd earlier that day instead of his "crazy" sister?

4. Is the relationship between the nurse and Dr. Lyman Sanderson purely professional?

5. Why is Dr. Lyman Sanderson mortified when he learns that Elwood Dowd has been sent upstairs at the sanitarium?

6. Describe the nurse, Ruth Kelly.

7. What do we learn about Elwood Dowd in this first scene of the play?

8. According to Veta Simmons, to whom did her mother leave everything, including the mansion?

9. How do Ruth Kelly and Dr. Lyman Sanderson interact throughout this scene? What does this reveal about their relationship.

10. How does Myrtle Mae Simmons feel about her uncle?

(see the answer keys)

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