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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 can't Bynum tell Selig the meaning of life?

2. What do Jeremy and Molly compliment Bertha on?

3. Where did Jeremy win his dollar?

4. What does Herald Loomis say his profession is?

5. What does Bynum compare Jeremy to?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Jeremy not want to enter a guitar-playing contest?

2. Describe what Bynum tells Jeremy about touching.

3. What does Reuben say the ghost he saw did and said?

4. What problem does Seth foresee for Jeremy, and what does Seth suggest as a solution?

5. What is Seth's opinion of Bynum's behavior with Loomis after the Juba?

6. How does Jeremy and Mattie's relationship progress?

7. Describe Bertha's attitude toward Herald Loomis.

8. What does Bynum say in defense of Loomis?

9. How does Loomis describe his wife to Selig?

10. What is Jeremy's initial reaction to Molly Cunningham?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss religion in the play.

1) What is the significance of the washing in blood that appears both in Bynum's vision and in the end of the play? What religious significance does it have?

2) Compare the Christian religion of the characters to Bynum's spiritualism. What parallels do they have? How are they different? Where does each arise from?

3) Why does Loomis rail against religion? What significance is there to the fact that Martha followed her church away from Loomis?

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

Discuss the losing of the self in the play.

1) How does Loomis lose himself and his identity in the play? Why can't he reclaim it?

2) What is the significance of a person's Song, as Bynum describes it, and how does losing one's Song equate to losing one's self?

3) How can characters find themselves? Which characters are still lost at the end of the play?

(see the answer keys)

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