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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. For whom does Sholem want to write?

2. When Mrs. Peretz enters, for what is the excitement in the house not good?

3. How does Lemml react to the love scene the men are reading?

4. Vogel had read The God of Vengeance while a student at what university?

5. How many years later was Indecent complete?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do the men in the salon react to Rifkele and Manke’s embrace? Why?

2. What did Vogel and Taichman do that led to a first draft in two weeks?

3. Where does Indecent take place?

4. What is done with the Torah scroll near the end of the reading of Sholem's play?

5. How is Madje’s line, “Teach me. Take me. I want to taste you” significant?

6. What important resources beyond the original play, trial information, and Taichman’s thesis was used to inspire Vogel?

7. When had Paula Vogel first heard about Rebecca Taichman?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout much of the play the same sections of The God of Vengeance is performed. Why might the playwright choose to repeat the dialogue? How does this repetition affect the reader or audience member? Does the reader’s or audience member’s attitude towards the characters or the play stay the same or change as the play Indecent unfolds? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

The play begins with the troupe rising from the ground, pouring sawdust from their clothes. What is this meant to represent? What tone does this set for the play ahead? What does this foreshadow? Is this an effective way to prepare the audience for future events? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Life in Europe takes a turn for the worse for the troupe and other Jews towards the end of the play. How is this foreshadowed? How does the playwright remind and/or educate the viewer on the atrocities of the Holocaust? Is this effective? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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