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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 the Cherokee term for Morning Star?

2. In Play Four, what does Patrick Rowen ask Jessie to do with the circuit court's mules, if any shooting occurs during the court's visit?

3. In the prologue of Play Six, who stands off to the side while 14-year-old Mary Anne Rowen sits at the creek?

4. In Play Two, The Courtship of Morning Star, what does Michael Rowen want now that he is prosperous?

5. When Patrick sells Jessie to Jeremiah in Play Four, what secret does Sallie reveal?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Jed Rowen agree to join the Confederate Army with Richard Talbert?

2. Why does Tommy attack J.T. in Scene Three of Play Six and what is Mary Anne's response when he does?

3. How does Jed's dream change at the end of Play Five, God's Great Supper, from what it is at the beginning of the play?

4. Discuss Richard Talbert's attempt in Play Five, God's Great Supper, to persuade Jed Rowen to resolve their family differences.

5. Discuss how Tommy helps Abe get hired at the mines in Scene Two of Play Seven.

6. What does Michael Rowen claim his life is like prior to coming to Kentucky?

7. Why doesn't Joshua want the miners to walk out of the unsafe Blue Star Mine in Play Eight?

8. How does the mining accident in Scene Nine of Play Seven influence Mary Anne's opinion about the union?

9. Why do the union and the mining company have to share responsibility for the mining accident at the end of Play Eight?

10. Explain the significance of the fact that Earl Tod speaks Cherokee in Play One, Masters of the Trade, when he first hears someone approaching him from the woods.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the treatment of women in The Kentucky Cycle. Do the men in the plays treat the women as equals or do they try to dominate them? Does the treatment of women change over the course of the cycles? Cite at least three examples from the text to support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

The Kentucky Cycle contains a number of instances of irony. Cite three examples of irony in the plays and discuss what you think the author intends to convey with each example.

Essay Topic 3

What character flaws and strengths do you see in the Rowen family through the generations depicted in The Kentucky Cycle? Select at least three characters from the nine plays and discuss how these flaws and strengths help or hinder the characters in dealing with the conflicts in their relationships and in their historical eras. Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.

(see the answer keys)

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