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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. Why does Henry not hug Ellen?
(a) He is afraid she will cringe.
(b) He is embarrassed.
(c) Out of a sense of propriety.
(d) He does not like her.

2. What does Waldo tell Lydian will be interesting?
(a) Having a Harvard-educated repairperson.
(b) Having an odd repairperson.
(c) Having a outspoken repairperson.
(d) Having a Transcendentalist repairperson.

3. How do John and Henry get on the topic of polygamy?
(a) They want many wives.
(b) They are considering creating their own cult.
(c) John notes that Ellen would marry both of them.
(d) They both like Ellen.

4. Why is Deacon Ball, the Chair of the Concord School Committee, shocked at what Henry has been discussing with his class?
(a) The students do not address him as "Sir."
(b) Matters of theology should be left to religious leaders.
(c) He is not following the curriculum.
(d) There are girls in the course.

5. On what do John and Henry then agree?
(a) They will begin their cult and marry as many women as possible.
(b) They will both get married as soon as possible to forget about Ellen.
(c) They will remain celibate until they are 90 and 92 years old, at which time they will both pursue Ellen.
(d) They will stay celibate for the rest of their lives.

Short Answer Questions

1. What happens to the man, in Waldo's story, who goes to India to earn a fortune, so he can retire a poet?

2. What does Henry then urge all his students not to do but to savor their sensations of the world?

3. What does Henry discover as he is busily pointing out different species of grass?

4. What is the setting for the beginning of the play?

5. Who is the old man who enters with his wife?

Short Essay Questions

1. In the play it is not know whether or not Henry stays in jail until the end of Bailey's trial. What do you believe takes place?

2. How does Henry show affection for Lydian? What is her response?

3. What is the story Henry tells about the character Williams?

4. How does Henry get out of jail?

5. What stops the war action on stage for a moment?

6. What inspires Henry at the end of the play?

7. What does Waldo mean when he accuses Henry of resigning from the human race?

8. What do Henry and Bailey see out the cell window?

9. How does Sam show that he is acting against his wishes when serving Henry with his tax bill?

10. What might the flute melody represent?

(see the answer keys)

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