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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where does Act 1, Scene 3 take place?
(a) The Department of Authenticity.
(b) The Ptydepe Classroom.
(c) The Accounting Office.
(d) The Ptydepe Translation Center.

2. Why is Savant "unable" to offer Gross any coffee?
(a) Gross drinks too much already.
(b) They tell him it tastes horrible.
(c) There isn't enough.
(d) They aren't drinking any.

3. in Act 1, Scene 5, what does Lear attempt to illustrate about Ptydepe?
(a) The vowels in Ptydepe are silent.
(b) Ptydepe makes no sense.
(c) Ptydepe does not use grammar.
(d) Words in traditional language are given different meanings in Ptydepe.

4. In modern times, what is a term used to describe the act of portraying something negative in a positive way?
(a) "Get on a soapbox."
(b) "Spin."
(c) "Rant."
(d) "Bloviating."

5. Who gets quizzed along with Gross on their knowledge of Ptydepe?
(a) Thumb.
(b) Hana.
(c) Ballas.
(d) Maria.

6. What style of writing best describes The Memorandum?
(a) Comedy.
(b) Memoir.
(c) Satire.
(d) Non-Fiction.

7. The larger metaphor for the clerk is a warning against what?
(a) Liberalism.
(b) A Monarchy.
(c) A Dictatorship.
(d) Communism.

8. What is Act 1, Scene 3 trying to illustrate about Gross?
(a) He is being deliberately given too much information at once.
(b) He is being kept out of the loop.
(c) He will have to rely on Maria from this point on.
(d) He has no desire to learn Ptydepe.

9. What does Gross do with the letter?
(a) He reads it out loud.
(b) He burns it.
(c) He ignores it.
(d) He throws it away.

10. How does Stroll exit in Act 1, Scene 3?
(a) Involuntarily.
(b) Angrily.
(c) Suddenly.
(d) Slowly.

11. What does Gross give Ballas and Pillar?
(a) An I.O.U.
(b) A money order.
(c) Cash.
(d) A check.

12. What does Gross interrupt at the start of Act 1, Scene 5?
(a) A board meeting called by Lear.
(b) A meeting between Lear and Stroll.
(c) Lear's lecture.
(d) A conversation between Lear and Ballas.

13. What does the item that Gross is carrying in Act 1, Scene 5 symbolize?
(a) His desire to hold onto whatever power he has left.
(b) His addiction to coffee.
(c) His intolerance for Ptydepe.
(d) His lack of enthusiasm for his new position.

14. Who does Gross talk to while he is waiting for Helena?
(a) Savant.
(b) Hana.
(c) George.
(d) Himself.

15. What is the clerk's name in Scene 2?
(a) Pinky.
(b) Thumb.
(c) Knuckle.
(d) Toe.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the overall point that Havel is making in Act 1, Scene 5?

2. What does Maria ask Gross in Act 1, Scene 6?

3. As explained in the play, what is Ptydepe designed to reduce?

4. Who receives an A, scoring better than Gross, on their knowledge of Ptydepe?

5. According to Gross and Hana's discussion, what is strange about Ptydepe, the new language being introduced?

(see the answer keys)

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