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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Gross offer during his argument with Ballas?
(a) To raise Ballas' salary.
(b) To resign.
(c) To confront the higher-ups.
(d) To pay for additional Ptydepe classes.

2. Who does Helena introduce herself as?
(a) The CEO.
(b) The Czar of Accounting.
(c) The Chairman.
(d) The Supervisor of Ptydepe Training.

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

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

5. What is very interesting about the intentional way Havel presents the office?
(a) The characters come and go without asking permission.
(b) The positions of the characters are never stated.
(c) It only has one room.
(d) The purpose of the office is never stated.

Short Answer Questions

1. What do Stroll and Savant remark about Maria?

2. What leads to Ballas and Gross switching positions?

3. What does Gross attempt to steal from Stroll's desk?

4. What does Gross declare is reduced when people are forbidden to use their natural language?

5. In defense of Ptydepe, what does Ballas declare the new language is far more of than the current one?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are two main issues that Gross has with Ptydepe in Act 1, Scene 1?

2. How is Lear's explanation of Ptydepe used to display the arrogance and self-indulgent actions of bureaucrats?

3. What is different about Thumb's responses in Act 2, Scene 8 as compared to earlier in the play?

4. What does the fire extinguisher symbolize?

5. What is important about Maria's gesture to Gross at the end of Act 1, Scene 6, and what is the irony in it?

6. What does Helena's request for Maria to help her make coffee symbolize?

7. What subliminal warning does the character of Thumb bring from the author?

8. What is it about the letter Gross receives that gets his attention, why is it significant to the play, and how does Gross react to it?

9. What is the game that Helena plays with Gross and what does it symbolize?

10. What are some examples in Scene 6 of Gross being continually kept of the loop?

(see the answer keys)

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