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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 young woman is Yekel concerned about?

2. When was Indecent's first world premieres?

3. The God of Vengeance changed Vogel’s attitude and assumptions regarding what?

4. What is the line that Madje says that is later used in the play and is read later on in this section in the salon reading?

5. What kind of music begins to play at the beginning of Indecent?

Short Essay Questions

1. Did Vogel end up including the trial in the play? Why or why not?

2. At the end of the reading of Sholem’s play, how do the responses of the men and Lemml differ?

3. What was Paula Vogel‘s reaction when she first read The God of Vengeance while at Cornell University?

4. Why had Rebecca Taichman reached out to Paula Vogel?

5. Who does Vogel thank for bringing her life’s work to life?

6. What does Vogel say she did when other projects came along?

7. Why are many of the men upset and horrified by what Yekel does with the Torah scroll?

8. How does the director stage the opening scene to show that the troupe is dead?

9. How do Madje and Sholem respond differently to the future of Sholem’s play in the beginning of the play?

10. Describe the language used in the play.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When Lemml arrives in Staten Island, he refuses to cross the Asch home shvel, or threshold. Why? How is a threshold important in other parts of the play? Why might the playwright choose to give such importance to a home’s threshold?

Essay Topic 2

Both Yiddish and English are spoken or used as subtitles throughout the play. How does this add to the play and the culture of the characters? How does the use of Yiddish from the very beginning of the play help to set the scene? The playwright describes the use of dialects to distinguish the understanding of English from one character to another. Do you find this to be a creative and useful way to show this distinction? Why or why not? Why might the playwright have decided to put so much focus on language in this play?

Essay Topic 3

In the Characters section of the book, it says The Dead Troupe. What might be the meaning of this? Why might the playwright have said they were dead? How is this significant? Does the shaking off of dust at the beginning of the play adequately signify the troupe is dead? Why or why not?

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