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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. In Act Three, Scene Four, what book does Eric accuse Toby of pretending to have read?

2. What does Eric point to as the primary way culture is transmitted?

3. In Act Three, Scene Two, what gift does Henry bring Eric?

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

5. What is the main feeling that Walter comes away with from the brunch conversation?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What is in the bag that Adam brings to Eric's apartment during the birthday party, and how does Toby explain the bag's contents?

3. During their argument in Act Two, Scene Three, what does Eric have to say about Toby's writing?

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

5. When the play returns to Eric in Act Three, Scene Two, what are the various reasons that Eric is feeling bereft and alone?

6. What secret does Morgan say Eric is keeping from everyone, and what is Morgan's belief about this secret?

7. What does Toby accuse Morgan of in Act Three, Scene Four, and how does Morgan respond?

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

9. When Adam reveals that he has been offered the Elan role in the Broadway production of Toby's play, how does Toby react, and why?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How much of a hero is Eric, really? In Part One of the play, other characters repeatedly comment about what an extraordinary person Eric is, even if he does not think so, himself. Then, in Part Two, Act Two, Lopez deliberately structures the action to create great sympathy for Leo, to show how most people marginalize him, and to cast Eric in the role of Leo's savior. When Eric finally makes his decision about the farmhouse at the end of Part Two, Act Two, he is in effect becoming the text's next "Walter." But can a countervailing argument be made that Eric has lived a life of privilege, talked a great deal about responsibility and sacrifice, and done little to back up his grand ideas with action until relatively late in life? How do Tristan and Jasper evaluate Eric's actions? How does Toby? Are their criticisms evidence that they are just bad judges of character, or is there merit to their claims? Write an essay in which you analyze how Lopez intends to depict Eric and then comment on the merits of that depiction in light of the text's messages about responsibility to the community. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text.

Essay Topic 2

How do the life experiences of the younger generation portrayed in The Inheritance differ from the life experiences of older men like Walter and Henry? How has this impacted their understanding of themselves and the wider gay community in New York? How does this understanding of community impact their behavior and choices? Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about how the lived experiences of the older and younger generations in this play impact their relationship to the gay community and their own identity as gay men. Show how this difference illuminates the larger meaning of the play. Support your ideas with evidence drawn from throughout the play.

Essay Topic 3

What messages about understanding the self does this play convey? Consider both Toby and Eric: how well do they understand themselves at the play's outset? How does their lack of understanding impact both themselves and others? What kinds of events spur them to greater understanding of themselves? How do differences in their underlying characters either accelerate or delay their arrival at a state of greater self-awareness? How does this change in them impact their happiness and their contribution to the world around them? Write an essay in which you take and defend a position about the play's message about understanding oneself, particularly as manifested in the growth and change of Eric and Toby. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text.

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