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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 Danny want Deborah to tell him?

2. What does Joan say that upsets Bernie?

3. Who is Bernie telling his dog story to?

4. What incident does Bernie reveal about his childhood?

5. On what day did Danny and Deborah meet?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Bernie's explanation for what constitutes a "pro"?

2. What is the significance of Deborah and Danny's fight over the shampoo?

3. After running into Joan at Deborah's apartment, what question does Danny ask her and why?

4. How does Danny attempt to pick up Deborah in the library?

5. As Danny helps Deborah move out of her apartment, how does Joan behave?

6. What are Bernie's feelings about the Equal Rights Amendment?

7. What is Joan's reaction to Deborah's new relationship?

8. While Bernie and Danny are shopping for Bernie's nephew, what secret does Bernie reveal about his childhood?

9. Why won't Danny talk to Bernie about he and Deborah's sex life?

10. During Danny and Deborah's all-night argument, what is the essential problem?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In The Duck Variations, how are George and Emil's personalities similar? How do they differ? How do George and Emil react to different topics in the play such as death, life, nature, and human society? Choose three variations in the play where George and Emil deal with an issue differently. Which would you say is the dominant personality? Why? Why do all their conversations center around ducks?

Essay Topic 2

Emil and George are older men watching the world they knew change around them. How do they use the duck as a metaphor throughout the play? What aspects of the world do they imagine the duck to represent? Why do you think the playwright chose a duck for his play and not another type of bird? What answers do Emil and George think nature holds for them?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the everlasting struggle between the Blue Heron and the Duck. What is symbiosis? Why are the Blue Heron and the Duck enemies? What has nature provided each of them to survive? How does their struggle epitomize the Law of Life? Why do George and Emil so identify with this? How could this struggle possibly applied to their lives? Use examples from the play to explain your answers.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 710 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample