View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the flashback with Katie, what are Gar’s plans for bringing in more income?

2. What does Boyle mean when he advises Gar to be one hundred percent American?

3. How much does SB owe Gar?

4. Why does private Gar quote Edmund Burke’s lines, “It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the Queen of France…at Versailles” (12)?

5. What do private and public Gar do together after Madge leaves in Episode 1?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Boyle’s words guide Gar on how to deal with the past and with his identity?

2. How does Madge interpret SB’s silence as his son plans to leave?

3. What was the age difference between Gar’s mother and father?

4. What does public Gar mean when he says “on my last day with him he got ten minutes’ overtime out of my hide” (2)?

5. Why did Gar not finish college?

6. How does private Gar try to bring out the difference between public Gar and SB?

7. What does the flashback that captures the night when Katie and public Gar planned their marriage reveal about Katie’s objections?

8. How does private Gar encourage public Gar in his plans?

9. Does SB discuss public Gar’s plans and Philadelphia on his last night at home?

10. What is SB’s nightly routine? Why does private Gar mock him for it?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What are the different emotions that are brought out when the past is evoked? Describe in detail the difference in the way the past is viewed by public and private Gar.

Essay Topic 2

The passage of time and the need to cope with change affects every character in the play. Explore how different characters respond to time and change and the consequences of those responses.

Essay Topic 3

Explore the theme of escape in the play and how it applies to Gar’s wish to be away from the people in his life and his wish to leave Ireland. Take into consideration the context of Ireland in the 1960s.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 802 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample