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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 the doctor ask Jim when he first wakes up?

2. What does Jim tell the doctor is affecting his work negatively?

3. Where did Jim go right after he took the pills?

4. What does the nurse try to get away from Mr. Fleming?

5. How many days have passed since the previous scene as the third scene in Act 1 begins?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Ann acting in Act 1, Scene 2, and what indication does she give the doctors about her intentions?

2. What is significant about Jim's insurance policy?

3. What is Jim's mood in the last scene of Act 2, and why does he feel that way?

4. According to what Jim tells Dr. Schlesinger, what is the event that triggered his intent to end his life?

5. As the doctors try to find out a possible reason for Jim's actions in Act 1, Scene 2, what does Ann reveal to them about his career?

6. What does Miss Wingate advise Jim of and why is it significant?

7. How is Jim released and what does he tell Ann on the phone?

8. What is the test that Dr. Bellman gives to Jim and how does it prove Jim's sanity?

9. What plan of action does Harry suggest that Jim follow and why?

10. How is Jim calmed down after his outburst and what is again brought into focus?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Charlotte is a very interesting character because she was never seen. Explain why you think the author chose to portray her this way. What does she represent for Jim? Why is that important and what does her absence mean for his situation? Describe in what ways Charlotte may have been able to help Jim and how she was prevented from participating in his life. Also, discuss Jim and Charlotte's relationship and why you think he was willing to never see her again by ending his life, despite the fact that she seemed so important to him and turned out to be a great source of hope for him. What reasons could he have had for not sensing her importance before? Was that a mistake on his part? In what way?

Essay Topic 2

Describe Jim's theory about life and death and why he does not view his suicide attempt as selfish. Analyze his thought process and whether or not it is valid. Also, explain his ideas about mourning and how they show a larger problem for him and the way he looks at life. Use examples from the play to analyze Jim's theory and what part it played in his eventual captivity.

Essay Topic 3

The first scene features Jim being admitted into the hospital in a manner that foreshadows future events.

1) How is Jim first introduced and what are the circumstances around his hospital visit? What is the significance of the way he is brought in and the explanation given at his arrival? How do the doctors attempt to gain information from him and what does he provide them with? Why is this important to the plot?

2) Describe the letter that is referred to in the first scene and why it is a clue that becomes more substantial later in the play.

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