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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 is Mother Courage angry with Eilif after he attacks the peasants?

2. What does the recruiting officer think the army needs?

3. What does Mother Courage decide to do at the end of the scene?

4. Mother Courage tells Kattrin that ____ is a gift from God.

5. What does Eilif want from Mother Courage when he sends her a message?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Mother Courage's advice to the young soldier about anger and injustice?

2. Why does "Mother Courage" end with Mother Courage pulling her cart and singing?

3. In "Mother Courage" is it possible to gain without losing?

4. How impoverished has the country become as the cook, Mother Courage, and Kattrin follow the soldier through the winter?

5. Has Mother Courage learned anything by the end of the play?

6. How does Mother Courage get her name?

7. Is "nothing sacred" to Kattrin in the lieutenant's opinion?

8. When Mother Courage refuses to help the peasant family, has Kattrin's defiance of her mother escalated?

9. Why is Mother Courage so protective of her soldiers' shirts?

10. Why does Mother Courage choose to leave the cook behind?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Virtue is valued differently in times of peace and war and is used as a commodity throughout the play. Discuss the purpose of "virtue" to the characters of "Mother Courage" and the play's statement of war as a whole.

Essay Topic 2

There can be a fine line between lie and delusion in "Mother Courage".

Part 1: What are characters' relationships with lying and deceit?

Part 2: What are characters' relationships with delusions?

Part 3: What are the cause and effect relationships between these two? What connects them? What is Brecht's purpose in this?

Essay Topic 3

Conversations about courage, cowardice, and bravery arise throughout the play. Discuss characters and the play's evolving relationship with these three themes.

(see the answer keys)

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