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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 are there no beds in the room?

2. Whom did Estelle expect to meet in the room?

3. When talking about the decoration of the room, Estelle says that she has always...?

4. How many years was Estelle happily married?

5. Whom does Garcin see in his vision?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why are eyes and "not looking at each other" symbolically important at this part in the play?

2. What are some of the things that cause tension between Inez and Garcin?

3. Why does Estelle refuse Inez's offer of her sofa?

4. As Inez, Estelle, and Garcin watch their friends and family back on Earth, how do they react?

5. What does Estelle complain about when she enters the room?

6. Why are there no toothbrushes or beds in the room?

7. Why does Inez believe Garcin to be her torturer?

8. Describe Inez's reaction to the Estelle's and Garcin's reasons for why they are in the room.

9. What does Garcin in his shirtsleeves stand for? Why does Estelle say she cannot stand a man in his shirtsleeves?

10. When Garcin asks the Valet what is outside the room, what does the Valet say?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Estelle is characterized as the most selfish of the three characters. Explain the details Sartre uses to show these aspects of her character, including her physical description, her behavior in the room as well as her actions before.

Chose one:

A) Consider her life before: her marriage, affair and pregnancy. What do these details demonstrate about her as a person?

B) Consider her behavior in the room. How does she act, and how do you think that her treatment of Garcin and Inez contributes to the overall conflict of the play?

Essay Topic 2

There is a lot of implicit meaning in this play, and the characters misrepresent their pasts to varying degrees. While Inez is relatively upfront about her crimes, Garcin holds back and Estelle is in severe denial about her past. Pick two of the explicit actions of the play below and discuss the implicit significance of each.

A) Garcin kissing Estelle.

B) Inez lying about the pimple.

C) Estelle crying without tears.

Essay Topic 3

In some ways, this play is characterized by a "battle of the sexes" that is also complicated by a love triangle. Closely read Estelle's assertion that "Well, in that case our tastes differ. That's all it proves. [Turning to INEZ] What about you? Do you like men in their shirt-sleeves?"

Answer the following questions:

1. How does this statement characterize Estelle? What does it communicate about her?

2. What does it reveal about Inez?

3. How does it contribute to the rising dramatic tension in the play? How does it affect the intensifying interactions between the three main characters?

(see the answer keys)

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