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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 does Ruth call Beneatha's hair style?

2. What was the name of the baby Mama and Big Walter lost?

3. What is in the letter they are expecting?

4. Ruth offers Walter Lee:

5. What is the time period of the play?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Mama decide to buy a new house for the family?

2. Travis asks repeatedly where his mother, Ruth, is during this scene. Why doesn't Mama answer his question?

3. Why is it difficult for members of the Younger family to use the bathroom in the morning?

4. How does Beneatha surprise George before they go out on their date?

5. How do Walter Lee and Ruth react when Mama tells them she bought a house in Clybourne Park?

6. What does Walter Lee taunt George about as they wait for Beneatha?

7. What is Ruth referring to when she talks to George about "them bombs and things they keep setting off?"

8. How does Mama react to Beneatha asking whether Ruth "planned" her baby?

9. Why is Ruth so embarrassed by Walter Lee and Beneatha when George Murchison comes in?

10. What does Ruth urge Mama to do with the insurance money for Big Walter's death?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain how Mama, Ruth, and Beneatha represent changing feminine roles in society.

Essay Topic 2

The author introduces many references in this play, from Hughes to Henry David Thoreau to Greek mythology and African songs. What do these references add to the play? How do they expand the universality of the themes?

Essay Topic 3

Does racism perpetuate poverty, or does poverty intensify racism? Or are the two problems completely separate? Explore these questions in an essay.

(see the answer keys)

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