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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 school does the Kittredges' daughter attend?

2. Which of the following is not a reason Flan lists for his clients wanting to deal with him instead of a gallery?

3. In Paul's description of his father, Sidney Poitier claims that growing up his family was so poor they did not even own what?

4. In the excerpt from Catcher in the Rye that Paul recites, Holden would rather chop off a man's head than what?

5. What metaphor does Sidney Poitier use to characterize the two American debates on life?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Ouisa discover when she wakes Paul in this section?

2. What are the Kittredges doing the night that Paul finally calls them?

3. How does Dr. Fine deal with Paul's deception?

4. What story do Larkin and Kitty tell in this section?

5. What is sent to the Kittredges in this section and how do they respond?

6. Describe Flan and Ouisa at the beginning of the play.

7. What was Paul's inspiration for his thesis?

8. How does the Detective respond to the complaints of the Kittredges, Kitty, and Larkin?

9. How is Geoffrey's financial situation strange?

10. What seems to be Paul's fate at the end of the play?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the play, Paul is something of a sounding board for other people's sense of self. He allows them to see themselves in a better, more idealistic light. Write an essay on Paul's positive interaction with others in three parts:

Part 1) Dr. Fine reconnects with his family and his sense of social good in his meeting with Paul. How does Paul make this possible? How long does this idealism last in the doctor?

Part 2) What is Geoffrey's set understanding of the way of the world at the beginning of the play? How does Paul's visit reinforce Geoffrey's better angels and challenge his sense of complacency?

Part 3) Ouisa is perhaps the most profoundly changed by Paul. In what ways does her one night with him alter her sense of the world? How is she shaken and left discontent by their connection?

Essay Topic 2

Six Degrees of Separation exists in a world of hyper-literate individuals. As such, it is riddled with specific references to art, pop culture, and New York. Write an essay about references and allusions in each of these three realms of thought. Who makes them on a regular basis? How do they flesh out both individual characters and the world of the play as a whole? Do they date the play?

Essay Topic 3

Paul is an enigmatic figure, and he only becomes more enigmatic as more is revealed about him. Write an essay, charting the transformation of Paul in three parts:

Part 1) How does Paul begin his transformation from street hustler to society man? What does Trent have to show him to transform him into the young man who appears in the Kittredges' house?

Part 2) How does Paul reinvent his life when he meets Rick and Elizabeth in Central Park? Who does he become, and how does he take on the manor-born customs of a Trent Conway to do it?

Part 3) In what state of existence is Paul the last time Ouisa speaks to him? Does he have a distinct persona at this point? How is he different from the Paul first introduced to the audience at the beginning of the play?

(see the answer keys)

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