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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. Why does Henry leave Eric at the farmhouse and drive away?

2. On page 109, what phrase does Toby say he is going to have engraved on his tombstone?

3. How does Walter's attitude seem to change in the weeks after Eric's birthday?

4. Whom does Eric work for?

5. What does the description of Eric's time in Paris emphasize?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Toby embarrass himself when he is staying at Henry Wilcox's house?

2. Why is the night of November 8, 2016 thematically significant?

3. How do Charles and Paul's attitudes in the hallway after Eric's brunch foreshadow their actions at the end of Act Two?

4. What is at the heart of Eric's nostalgia for the gay community's past?

5. What medication is Tristan taking, and why is it brought up in the context of positive changes for the gay community?

6. In the hallway after brunch, when Eric tries to be self-deprecating after Walter compliments him, how does Walter respond?

7. How does Eric come to live in such a nice apartment, and what issue is he facing with this apartment in Act One?

8. What is ironic about Jason 2's question to Walter about whether Walter worries about what will happen if Henry dies first?

9. Which character does Young Man 10 become in Act One, and how does this make sense with his lines in the Prologue?

10. In what sense does Adam feel he might have played a part in Eric and Toby's breakup?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What claims is The Inheritance making about cultural appropriation from the gay community? How does this relate to the part of the play's plot in which Henry and his children try to keep Eric from inheriting what Walter wanted to bequeath him? Why do Eric's and Walter's individual personalities, ages, and beliefs matter in understanding this relationship? How does the class status of Henry and his children mimic the power dynamic between the larger community and the gay community? Write an essay in which you show how the plot regarding the farmhouse illuminates the text's concerns regarding cultural appropriation. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text.

Essay Topic 2

How does Act One create a contrast between Eric and Toby that foreshadows the events of the remainder of the play? Write an essay that establishes how Act One characterizes both men and demonstrates how these characterizations create contrast. Then, trace how subsequent developments in the play arise naturally from this contrast. Finally, tie your observations to some thematic claim that this play seems to be making. Defend your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the play.

Essay Topic 3

In Part Two, Act Two, Scene Three, Tristan compares America to the Titanic. Although he and Eric disagree about what to do in response to this crisis, they take for granted that it is a crisis. Where else in the text do the characters espouse beliefs about America's culture and politics that the text presents as so obviously true that no evidence is needed to convince the audience? The only main character who seems to oppose the other characters' political and social beliefs is Henry--is his perspective presented fairly, or as a kind of straw man? Write an essay in which you take and defend a position about the play's assumed audience, noting where the play's claims might appear weak to an audience outside of its intended one. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text.

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