View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What type of business does Seth want to start?

2. Who is missing from the dinner table, at the beginning of Act 1, Scene 4?

3. Where does Herald Loomis hang around?

4. What does Bertha want Seth to make her?

5. How much does Seth figure out Selig owes him for six pots, subtracting what Seth owes Selig?

Short Essay Questions

1. What reason does Bynum give for why he doesn't think Herald Loomis is a gambler?

2. What is Seth's attitude to the black men coming to the city to find work and freedom?

3. Describe what Reuben says he still has from Eugene and what he plans to do with it.

4. What does Bertha say is the worst use of a man?

5. What is Molly's reaction to the death of Mattie's two babies?

6. How does Seth greet Loomis when he comes down the stairs at the beginning of Act 2, Scene 1?

7. What is Seth's response to Molly telling him that she likes "company"?

8. What does Bertha advise Mattie about Bynum?

9. What does Mattie tell Loomis when he says he needs to find a starting place?

10. What was Bynum's first reaction to finding his song?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the meaning of Eugene's pigeons in the play.

1) Why does Reuben keep Eugene's pigeons instead of setting them free? Why might Eugene want the pigeons set free after his death?

2) Why does Seth's mother's ghost come and force Reuben to free the pigeons?

3) What symbolism do the pigeons have in Bynum's rituals?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss hope in the story.

1) Why do the freed slaves come north to Pittsburgh? What does Seth think and say about their hope for a new life? How accurate is Seth's opinion?

2) Do the characters have hope during the play? Do any of the characters, such as Loomis, Jeremy, or Mattie, gain hope? What do they hope for?

3) What role does hope play in life and happiness in the play? Is hope helpful or harmful?

Essay Topic 3

Trauma is the enduring effects of an injury, such as slavery, which leaves a generations-long mark on African-Americans. Discuss trauma in the play.

1) How has Herald Loomis' trauma from being enslaved affected him and his life? Do any of the other characters affected a similar trauma?

2) How do the cultural repercussions of slavery affect Jeremy?

3) How do the cultural repercussions of slavery affect the women in the play and their relationships with men?

4) How is trauma from Herald Loomis' experience passed down to Zonia?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 768 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample