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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 Elwood Dowd tell Ruth Kelly about Dr. William Chumley's whereabouts?

2. What does Elwood Dowd do immediately upon arriving home?

3. How does Judge Gaffney feel about Elwood Dowd being locked up in the sanitarium?

4. What does Elwood Dowd want to know from Ruth Kelly and Dr. Lyman Sanderson?

5. Where does Dr. Lyman Sanderson claim to have seen Ruth Kelly last Saturday?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Dr. Lyman Sanderson try to psychoanalyze Elwood Dowd's relationship with Harvey?

2. What is Veta Simmons' reasoning for why she was committed instead of Elwood Dowd?

3. While Veta Simmons and Dr. William Chumley are arguing, what happens?

4. With whom does Elwood Dowd speak to on the phone when he arrives home and what does he talk about?

5. Why does Elwood Dowd enter the sanitarium with flowers for Ruth Kelly?

6. Which other characters do you think are starting to believe in Harvey by the end of this scene? Why do they do this?

7. When Elwood Dowd mentions to Ruth Kelly that he has things he needs to do, what is he referring to?

8. How does Dr. William Chumley get escorted out of Charlie's Place, according to Elwood Dowd?

9. Why is Myrtle Mae Simmons surprised when Judge Gaffney arrives at the Dowd home?

10. What are some of the reasons Veta Simmons is visibly shaken up and disheveled-looking when she first appears in this scene?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Act 1, Scene 2, where Elwood Dowd is taken to the sanitarium by Veta Simmons, there is a lot of comic miscommunication occurring. All of the various characters have an incomplete understanding of the situation, which makes Veta Simmons' situation at once comical and tragic. Please find three examples from this scene about how poor communications can create very different results from what was originally intended.

Essay Topic 2

Why does Elwood Dowd comply with Veta Simmons' every wish regarding his mental health (admitting him to Chumley's Rest, administering the formula, etc.)? Why is it left to Vera Simmons to decide what happens to Elwood Dowd and, by extension, Harvey? Please support your answers.

Essay Topic 3

By the end of Act 2, more people are beginning to believe in Harvey or at least admit there is something to Elwood Dowd's imaginings. Which characters hold some level of belief in Harvey by the end of Act 2, Scene 2? How is the audience brought into this circle of believers? Support your answers from the text.

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