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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 Peretz advise Sholem to do with his manuscript at the end of this section?

2. When was The God of Vengeance written?

3. What love scene is shocking to the men?

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

5. What does Peretz think this play will do, regarding anti-Semitism?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Sholem compares himself to one of the prostitutes in his play. When and why does he do this?

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

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

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

6. When and why was The God of Vengeance put on trial?

7. Why might it be important that Nakhmen state that his nephew, Lemml, has never seen a play?

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

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

10. Where and when did Indecent premiere?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The members of the troupe play multiple roles in the play, as well as form an ensemble/chorus. What is the purpose of the ensemble when it is not directly related to the scene taking place? How does the playwright also use song and dance to support the story? Does Vogel and the direction by Taichmann effectively use the ensemble to either help tell the story or give insight into the setting, characters, and/or plot? Why or why not?

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

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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