View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does Dan rattle on during his conversation with Delia in the middle of the night in Act 1 Part 6?
(a) He is distracted by his wife's affair.
(b) He is nervous.
(c) He is stoned.
(d) He is drunk.

2. Why is Jean taking time away from work?
(a) To have a baby.
(b) To return to school.
(c) To get married.
(d) To be with Dan on the dig.

3. From where are the students selected to assist the dig?
(a) Dr. Loggin's class in field archeology.
(b) August Howe's class.
(c) The townspeople.
(d) The Dean's office at the University.

4. What does Dan say he fell asleep wrapped around in New York?
(a) A mailbox.
(b) A fire-alarm box.
(c) A street post.
(d) A stop sign.

5. What is Delia's last name?
(a) Roberts.
(b) Howe.
(c) Johnson.
(d) Eriksen.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Dan say is the only way to feel completely safe on the sidewalks of New York?

2. Who does Dan say build burial mounds?

3. How many summers did August say that they had previously spent excavating at the site in Act 1?

4. What did Delia's ex-husband's sell?

5. What does August state on the recorder that he intends to do at the beginning of Act 1?

Short Essay Questions

1. Which character says, "Great blinders is believing in and she's a great believer in blinders?" What does this mean?

2. Which character was created by Lanford Wilson for the actor Tanya Berezin? Why?

3. Describe the character of Cynthia. Who is she in relation to the main character? How old is she? What is her profession?

4. What does the rain represent in Act 2?

5. How does Dan react to Delia's comment in Act 2 that everyone vanishes "without a trace?"

6. In the end of Act 2, Part 3, August repeats the word "nothing." What does this imply?

7. How does the word "excavation" relate literally and figuratively in the play? What is being excavated in both senses of the word?

8. In the opening of the play, August speaks into a tape recorder. To whom is he speaking and why?

9. What fact about Jean's character does Dan ask that August not reveal to the others early in the play? Why?

10. Who is Professor August Howe? How old is he? What is his profession?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 864 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample