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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. As Vogel wrote the play, what does she say she began to feel regarding the story?

2. What language does Peretz say is their mother tongue?

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

4. In what languages do the actors speak at the beginning of the play?

5. Where does Sholem say he has always wanted to see?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How does this section end?

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

5. How does the playwright early on show why the play is titled Indecent?

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

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

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

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

Sholem Asch says that this play is part of his soul, while the men in the salon encourage him to write about things he knows. Why might Asch choose to write about lesbian romance between a virgin girl and a prostitute? How and why might this be important to him? What clues are given in the play to explain why this subject matter was so important to him that he needed to share it with the world?

Essay Topic 2

After The God of Vengeance was put on trial, it was decided that it was an obscene play. Why? What are the problems with the play, according to the ruling? How does this ruling reveal prejudice towards some and a view of others as if through rose-colored glasses?

Essay Topic 3

The play ends with the full rain scene and Rifkele, Manke, Lemml, and Sholem dancing. Why might the playwright have chosen this as the ending? What might it signify? How might it leave an audience? Why?

(see the answer keys)

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