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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 is Eric looking at when he realizes what he wants to do with the farmhouse?

2. What does Eric tell Toby about his new play?

3. What does Adam apologize to Eric for in Act Two, Scene Four?

4. What does the caretaker tell Eric about his possessions?

5. Who is on the beach with Leo in the opening of Part Two, Act Two?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the farmhouse caretaker say is the reason that so many gay men died during the AIDS epidemic?

2. Who was Edward Carpenter, and how did he inspire Maurice?

3. What causes Leo to think of HIV as "A bitter inheritance," and what is the significance of this diction (239)?

4. When Leo wakes up next to the stranger in Act Two, Scene Four, what does he choose to steal from the man, and why?

5. What course does Eric's life take after Toby's death?

6. What is ironic about Henry's comments about giving the farmhouse to Walter during the reenacted scene between Young Henry and Young Walter in Act Two, Scene Two?

7. How does Leo react when he first sees Toby at the farmhouse?

8. How does Tristan latch onto a metaphor Eric proposes and turn it into a critique of a particular politician?

9. How did Henry's fear during the AIDS epidemic end up robbing him of his ability to truly love another man?

10. What news does Eric give Henry at Toby's funeral, and how does Henry react?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Now that you have finished the play, you have seen the Young Men both take part in and comment on the play's action in a variety of ways. What does it mean that they are both characters and narrators in this play? What does it mean that many of them play several different characters? Which play only one character, and what is the significance of this? Why are they initially identified as "Young Men" rather than "Chorus" or some other term? Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about the significance of the Young Men to the play's overall meaning. Defend your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the play. If you use outside sources, be sure to cite these in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

What is The Inheritance's view of what it means to be a good person and what motivates people to act in ethical or unethical ways? Consider the actions and motivations of main characters like Toby, Henry, Walter, and Eric as well as the actions of any minor characters you find relevant to this question. Think about the impact that characters' choices have on others and the judgments passed by Morgan and the Young Men in their quasi-narrative role. Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about what this play conveys about "goodness" and its motivations. Remember to stay focused on the play's claims about these issues--you are not writing about how these characters measure up to your own moral standards or your own beliefs about what it means to be a good person. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text.

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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