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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. How much money does Walter Lee need for his plans?

2. What does Mama tell Walter Lee about Ruth?

3. Who comes to visit Beneatha in this scene?

4. Mama asks Walter Lee if he is:

5. What is revealed when Beneatha takes off her headdress?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Describe Walter Lee's future, as he sees it.

3. Which members of the Younger family share each of the two bedrooms?

4. Walter Lee mentions that Mama is expecting something to arrive in the mail. What is she expecting?

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

6. How does Beneatha differ from the other members of her family?

7. Why is Mama suspicious when Ruth refers to the doctor as a female?

8. How does Mama react when her neighbor, Mrs. Johnson, refuses to lend her some cleanser?

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

10. Why is Beneatha reluctant to let a visitor come over to the apartment on this morning?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At the end of the play, Mama tells Ruth that Walter Lee came into "his manhood." What is Mama saying about male gender roles? How does her attitude contrast with Walter Lee's thoughts about manhood?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay examining how this play relates to the American Dream. Is there one American Dream or are there many different ones? What is this play saying about the Americans and their dreams?

Essay Topic 3

Hansberry starts the play with a poem by Langston Hughes about a "dream deferred." Explain how this poem and its images relate to the play.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 562 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample