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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 Gross' main concern that leads him to become angry in Act 1, Scene 6?

2. What does Gross interrupt at the start of Act 1, Scene 5?

3. What is very interesting about the intentional way Havel presents the office?

4. Who does Ballas point out is in control of Ptydepe?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What are some examples of the familiarity of Ballas' morning as Managing Director and what is it similar to?

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

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

4. How does Lear explain the complexities of Ptydepe to the class?

5. What do the cigars symbolize and how are they used to introduce the Staff Watcher's place in the play?

6. What do we notice right away about the relationship between Ballas and Pillar?

7. What is both ironic and significant about Pillar's outburst at the end of Act 2, Scene 10?

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

9. How is the symbolism of the fire extinguisher heightened at the beginning of the second part of Act 2, Scene 9, part 2 with George and Gross?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One of the writing techniques used by Havel is the repeated cycles he creates for the story. This is a way for an event or situation to be "recycled" in order to make a point. Describe in detail an example of how events were repeated for which characters. Were the events exactly the same as when they appeared originally in the play? If not, what was different about them? Why did Havel choose to make these changes? For each repeated event, also include the point Havel makes with it.

Essay Topic 2

Thumb is an essential part of the bureaucratic system, even though he seems largely unaware of it. What is his specific role in the play and in the larger theme of the story? Which character traits allow him to fulfill that role? What are the more serious dangers that Thumb represents a warning against?

Essay Topic 3

The character of George, the Staff Watcher, is Havel's way of warning against what form of government control. Why is that role significant to the end result of what the bureaucracy in the play is after? Later on, as Gross becomes the Staff Watcher for a brief time, how does the role change? How does he fill the position differently than George? Finally, when the positions are switched yet again, what is the symbolic significance of the way George acts and Gross' place at the time? This essay should chronicle the Staff Watcher position from the beginning to the end of the play, describing its part in the story.

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