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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. According to George, has the hunter been able to shoot the duck?

2. What does Emil claim is happening to fish in Australia?

3. Of what quality is the boat?

4. What does George think separates men from boys?

5. What do they feel is the major difference between the two birds?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are some of the items the men claim are needed to hunt a duck?

2. According to Emil, what is happening to some fish near Australia?

3. What is the significance of George's story about the Giant Panda?

4. What was George reading about the balance of nature?

5. How does George, in contradiction with some of his other statements, describe the simple life of a duck?

6. What do George and Emil think about hunting ducks and stuffing them?

7. What point does Emil make about the wild Buffalo?

8. What is George's account of the hunter who came across the ducks in the clearing?

9. Why did the Ancient Greeks watch birds?

10. What other societies does George claim have been modeled after ducks?

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

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.

Essay Topic 3

Why do George and Emil so enjoy meeting in the park? Why is friendship so important to them? Why do they seek to be in harmony with nature? They are described as men in their sixties--is their philosophic waxing prompted by a fear of death? Why or why not? Use examples from their conversations to make your conclusion.

(see the answer keys)

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