View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who brings the test results to the soldiers?
(a) The corporal.
(b) Pierce.
(c) Towers.
(d) Ardell.

2. How in the barracks during the conversation about Pavlo joining infantry did Pavlo claim his mother would react?
(a) Start to cry in frustration.
(b) Be embarrassed.
(c) Divorce his father.
(d) Be hugely excited.

3. Who are the two characters in the furnace room when Pavlo first enters?
(a) Kress and Parker.
(b) Towers and Parker.
(c) Ardell and Kress.
(d) Towers and Ardell.

4. What does Pavlo do when he sees Pierce coming after being beaten up by the other trainees?
(a) Runs back to the barracks pretending to have forgotten something.
(b) Grabs a book and pretends to read.
(c) Begins to cry quietly.
(d) Stands up and salutes him.

5. What does Pavlo remind Tower of when told he had to follow through on his punishment?
(a) He does not feel well.
(b) He will do it better than anyone else in the army.
(c) He has to take care of the furnace.
(d) He was not at fault.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Ardell do while helping Pavlo get dressed after his suicide attempt?

2. How does Tower conclude his weapon drill in Act 1, Part 3?

3. In the furnace room after Pierce accuses Pavlo's stories of being lies, what does Pierce ask Pavlo?

4. Who does Pierce say he is worried about while he is drunk talking with Pavlo?

5. What is Pierce doing when Pavlo first meets him?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the scene in which Pavlo grabs the grenade display yet another ironic moment in his seemingly life-long struggle for identity? What character trait seems to remain intact to the very end of his life, possibly leading to his ultimate demise?

2. Tower mentions the North Star more than a few times throughout the play, and finally in Act 2, Part 4. Up until this point, what are the possible meanings of these references to the North Star?

3. How is Pavlo's interactions and awareness of Brisbey and his plight of significance to the audience's understanding of what happens to people as a result of being involved in war?

4. How is Pavlo made to feel helpless in Part 4?

5. What might "Jody" in the final military song of Act 2, Part 5 represent or metaphorically speak to?

6. Explore the ways in which Pavlo is made to feel helpless in this act. Theorize on the writer's purpose for creating these moments.

7. How is the incident of Pavlo taking the aspirin and not waking up during the other trainees' games symbolic? How is this foreshadowing?

8. In what ways are the playwright's use of the "collage effect" of creation especially poignant in this act?

9. How does the action unfolding in Act 2, Part 4 blur the line between delusion and reality in Pavlo's mind?

10. What dramatic changes occur to Pavlo and his mentality in Act 2, Part 4?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,986 words (approx. 7 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample