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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. In Chapter 1, how long had Agamemnon been gone?

2. After men are sent to find Orestes in Chapter 3, how does Electra think her mother spends the rest of the day?

3. In Chapter 2 when water is found in a house with a man and a woman, how much is Orestes given?

4. In Chapter 3, what remains where Mitros' house had been?

5. What does Aegisthus threaten to do to Electra after she learns her mother killed her father?

Short Essay Questions

1. Toward the end of Chapter 3, what does Electra realize might free her and how does she try to gain freedom?

2. What does Electra realize about herself and her future in Chapter 3?

3. In Chapter 3, how is Electra's room an outpost of the underworld?

4. What causes Leander and Orestes to leave the old woman's house?

5. In Chapter 2, why does each boy have a slate?

6. In Chapter 3, where does Electra remember that she and her sister used to go if they wished to speak privately?

7. In Chapter 3, when Electra says that she is afraid of Aegisthus, how does she describe him?

8. In Chapter 3, what does Electra remember happened to her when her father returned from the war?

9. In Chapter 1, what does Clytenmestra think that she should have done with Electra when she got home?

10. In Chapter 2, what is the first rule that Leander creates and how does he intend for the boys to protect themselves?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Orestes is a young boy when the novel begins. How is Orestes’ character developed in the novel? What physical and internal journeys does he take, and how do those journeys shape the man he becomes?

Essay Topic 2

In ancient Greece, men were powerful and women were subservient. How does Toibin give female characters the power to act and control their lives? How does he depict the lack of power that some male characters have? How is this depiction of agency a reversal of typical roles of men and women in ancient Greece?

Essay Topic 3

Clytemnestra and Aegisthus are lovers and co-rulers after Agamemnon’s death. How would you describe the relationship between the two? What brought them together? Why do they stay together if they do not love one another?

(see the answer keys)

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