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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 Norman doing when Act 1, Scene 2 opens?

2. For what job does Norman contemplate applying?

3. In what year is the house at Golden Pond built?

4. What happened to the screen door?

5. What seems sad to Charlie?

Short Essay Questions

1. Give a brief synopsis of Ethel and Charlie's conversation and what the author may be showing through this conversation.

2. What does Charlie say about Chelsea and children and what does this possibly reveal about Charlie as a person?

3. How does the broken screen door come into play again and how does it give the reader a better understanding of Norman's character?

4. The fact that Norman attempts to get Charlie to discuss baseball foreshadows several other times that Norman uses baseball to hide his discomfort in carrying on meaningful conversations, particularly concerning Chelsea. What is foreshadowing?

5. Describe Ethel and a little about her.

6. Though Norman makes no blatant prejudiced statements about Jews, what he does say implies his bigotry. In your own words, what statements seem to suggest that Norman is prejudiced against Jewish people?

7. What does Charlie suggest about the broken screen door; what is Ethel's reply and why do you think she responds the way she does?

8. What other elderly couple is mentioned in this scene and what does Ethel say about them?

9. Who is Charlie and what is a little about his life and/or history?

10. Briefly describe Norman Thayer, the first character on the set.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the very first scene of the play, it is already obvious that one of the themes will be daughter/father relationships. Answer the following questions in a coherent essay using detailed examples from the entire play:

1). Give your opinion about how you think Norman and his daughter will get along, just based upon the little that is revealed in the first scene of the play.

2). The part of the first scene where Norman looks at Chelsea's picture of her in a swimsuit as a teen is a technique called foreshadowing. What does this foreshadow? Is this an effective method to clue the reader in on some future action in the play? Why or why not.

3). Are you as a reader prepared to like Chelsea or not based on what is subtly revealed about her in this first scene? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

Though Ethel and Norman have been married for many years, it is obvious from the very opening of the play that they are quite different. Answer the following questions in a coherent essay using detailed examples from the entire play:

1). Compare and contrast Ethel and Norman's personalities. Give supporting details from the entire play.

2). Do you believe that a marriage is better if the two people are similar or opposites? Explain your reasoning.

3). If you were to meet Ethel and Norman, with whom would you feel the most affinity? Why?

Essay Topic 3

Two people mentioned in Act 1, Scene 1, are Miss Appley and Miss Tate who are both in their nineties. Ethel implies that these two have been romantically involved for many decades. This play was written in the 1970s, which means Miss Appley and Miss Tate probably became lovers in the early part of the 1900s. Answer the following questions in a coherent essay using detailed examples from the entire play:

1). How difficult do you think it was for the two women to have a relationship in the early part of the 20th century?

2). What do you think the attitude of each of their parents was when it became obvious that the two women were not going to marry men?

3). How would you feel if Miss Appley and Miss Tate were your next door neighbors?

(see the answer keys)

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