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

2. What causes Adam to miss his performance?

3. Where is Henry going on his business trip during the Christmas holidays?

4. After meeting Henry, what is the main point Eric's friends try to make about his relationship with Henry?

5. Who is Tucker?

Short Essay Questions

1. What memory is Toby recreating when he pressures Leo into attending the parties during their summer trip, and how does the reader know this?

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

3. How does Toby's experience at the opening of his play relate to the scene he makes at Eric's wedding?

4. What happens as soon as Toby gets back to his apartment after he visits his agent?

5. What is the subtext of Adam and Toby's argument about the new line Toby has added to the play?

6. What points about money and status are made in the scene between Eric, Leo, and the two doormen outside Toby's apartment building?

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

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

9. After Eric's friends leave Henry's townhouse, what does Eric ask Henry about the rest of the evening, and what is consequently revealed about Henry's intentions for their marriage?

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

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

What thematic motifs of The Inheritance are enhanced by the play's metatheatrical elements? How does reminding the audience that they are watching a play support what the play is trying to say about writers and the importance of storytelling? What do these elements have to do with the idea of community that the play is trying to convey? Write an essay in which you take and defend a position about the thematic significance of the play's metatheatrical elements. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text.

Essay Topic 3

How do the ghostly figures at the farmhouse relate to the play's messages about community, storytelling, and inheritance? How do the ghosts' identities matter--their membership in community, their generation, and the manner of their deaths? How does their location matter? Why do they appear to Eric, and why all together? What do Eric's actions relative to these men and their stories signify? Write an essay that analyzes how the ghostly figures support the play's ideas about the importance of community and storytelling and that shows how these ideas relate to the play's conception of "inheritance." Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text.

(see the answer keys)

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