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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 Inez upset by her vision in Part 4?

2. When Garcin sees Gomez, how much time has passed?

3. What does Garcin says both Inez and Estelle do to him?

4. Who says that s/he is "rotten to the core"?

5. Garcin asks Estelle if she could do what?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Inez's volunteering to be the mirror for Estelle symbolic?

2. What do you think is the worst thing Garcin did to his wife?

3. Why do you think that Inez would rather deal with hell face to face?

4. Why does Inez describe Estelle's mouth as cruel?

5. Why does Estelle shed no actual tears when she cries?

6. How does Garcin feel when Estelle tells him that it does not matter if he is a coward as long as he kisses well?

7. If Inez does not seem to care about her appearance, why does she normally carry a mirror?

8. Why is it significant that Garcin's colleagues have called him a coward?

9. What does Sartre demonstrate about Garcin when he interrupts his kissing Estelle to listen in to what his colleagues are saying?

10. What does Garcin mean when he says that he can see where talking to each other will lead?

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

Sartre uses symbols to communicate deeper levels of meaning in this play. In an essay, describe the first instances of this symbol, i.e. what it meant and how it was represented at the beginning of the play. Then examine how the symbol evolved, or how the characters' and audiences understanding of the symbol changes over the course of the play. Chose one of the following symbols:

A) The bronze statue.

B) The human eye.

Essay Topic 3

This play relies heavily on foreshadowing. Objects in the room and things the characters say about themselves help prime the audience to understand the layers of denial and misrepresentation through which these characters journey. Chose one of the following options and write an essay that uses specific examples from the text:

A) Describe how Sartre uses the paper knife as a foreshadowing tool. In what context does it first appear, and what does it represent later in the play?

B) Explain how the way Estelle behaves in the beginning prefigures the truths we find out about her. Be sure to be specific.

C) Explain how the setting and set decorations as a whole foreshadow what will happen at the end of the play.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 997 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample