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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 king would reroute locomotives through his women's bedrooms?

3. What does Joan say that upsets Bernie?

4. Do Joan and Danny get along?

5. In what year does the play take place?

Short Essay Questions

1. After they sleep together for the first time, what do Danny and Deborah agree to do next?

2. What story does Joan tell her kindergartners?

3. What is Joan's reaction when Deborah informs her she is moving in with Danny?

4. What, in Act 2, do Joan and Deborah agree on about men?

5. What is Bernie trying to prove when he describes his sexual escapade on the phone in front of Danny?

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

7. What two things does Bernie suggest to Danny about attracting women?

8. Who was King Farouk, according to Bernie?

9. Does Joan feel that she is getting wiser about relationships as she gets older? Why or why not?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Though Danny and Deborah start out seemingly strong, they are doomed for failure. Why? What aspects of a real relationship are incompatible for them? Are Danny and Deborah representative of a larger societal picture? Why or why not? Compare their sexual relationship to their emotional relationship---what are the differences between the two? How do each of them react to their breakup? Do you find theirs a stereotypical courtship, relationship, and parting of ways? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Write a character study of Joan Webber in Sexual Perversity in Chicago. Is Joan a static or a dynamic character, i.e., does she stay the same throughout the play or does she change? Did your opinion of Joan change throughout the play? Why or why not? Describe aspects of Joan's personality. How does she behave toward the other characters in the play? What drives her behavior? Why do you think the playwright decided to make Joan a kindergarten teacher? What is Joan's existential crisis? Feel free to use properly cited quotations from the text.

Essay Topic 3

In Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Joan has to break up two children playing "doctor." Why is this scene included in the play? What point is the playwright making about the intricacies of the sexual relationship between men and women? How does this scene add to Joan's overall confusion? Do you think men and women are doomed to misunderstand each other? Are there essential differences that cannot be completely understood or overcome by either sex? Explain your answer.

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