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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 strange about Estelle's friend at her funeral?

2. Which character acts snobbish when he/she learns what the others did for a living?

3. Which character says that the three are all "damned souls"?

4. When Estelle enters the room, who is already there?

5. Who says that he/she is already "in order"?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What does Estelle say about why she thinks she is in the room?

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

5. What are some examples of foreshadowing in the first part of the play?

6. Describe, at this point in the play, the nature of hell.

7. Why is Estelle surprised to see that Garcin's face is fine?

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

9. What makes Inez realize that they are supposed to be each other's torturers?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Inez proclaims herself cruel, saying "I'm your lark-mirror, my dear, and you can't escape me....There isn't any pimple, not a trace of one. So what about it? Suppose the mirror started telling lies? Or suppose I covered my eyes--as he is doing--and refused to look at you."

1. Contextualize this passage in terms of the section of the scene it comes from: What is happening when Inez says it?

2. Analyze what role the mirror symbol plays in this section. Why use this symbol right now?

3. What does it demonstrate about Garcin's relationship to Estelle?

Essay Topic 2

Consider the order in which Sartre introduces the characters into the room. Write an essay that considers the following:

1. Why does Garcin come first? What are the advantages to the story and to the tension that will develop to having him introduce the play and anchor the action?

2. If you were Sartre, would you have put Inez on stage next? Is it significant that she and Garcin are in the room alone for a few minutes before Estelle joins them?

3. Discuss Estelle's introduction to the room (the color of the sofa, etc.) and describe how it heightens the growing tension in the room.

4. How does the order of the characters foreshadow the very end of the play?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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