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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 Man say scares him?

2. The Woman says she will sleep well because of what reason?

3. Who are the two main characters?

4. Where does the Man hide the flower he takes in Scene 1?

5. What does the Woman tell the Man that he should learn to love?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the Man doing at the beginning of the second scene, and what is the Woman's reaction?

2. How does the Man feel about the Woman's taking away his sword?

3. What is the setting of Scene 1?

4. What does the Woman tell the Man she creates?

5. Why does the Man ask the Woman how she can sleep at night, and what is her response?

6. What is the significance of what the Man takes out of his pocket in the sixth scene?

7. What does the Man explain to the Woman about what his friend told him about meditating?

8. What does the Woman say she wanted to do for both herself and the Man in the final scene?

9. What does the Man do after the Woman leaves in the eighth scene, and how does the Woman react after she returns?

10. How does the Scene 8 conclude?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The play can be interpreted to be a story of the relationship in general between men and a women. Write a response to the following, and support your answer with examples from the play:

1) What traits from the play support the theory that this story is an allegory about the relationship between men and women?

2) How is the Woman represented to reflect what men feel about women? How is the Man represented to reflect what women feel about men?

3) What message is the author is trying to portray about the difficulties in establishing a relationship? What is the author saying about how the differences between men and women should be treated to have a successful relationship?

Essay Topic 2

The true identities of the Man and the Woman are never revealed though they are given names to substitute for their identity. Write an essay answering the following using supporting examples:

1) What are the names that the Man is given? Are these names reflective of the true identity of the Man as revealed by his personality?

2) What is the name the Woman gives herself, and what does it mean? How does the final scene illustrate the Woman's name?

3) The characters withhold their true identity from each other. Why? What effect does this have on their relationship?

Essay Topic 3

The play has only two characters, the Man and the Woman. Each of these characters represents good and bad things to one another. Using supporting examples, respond to the following:

1) Is there a clearly defined protagonist or antagonist in "The Sound of a Voice"? Why or why not?

2) What substitutes for the protagonist and antagonist in the play?

3) What is the author's purpose in writing the plot without an obviously laid out hero and villain?

(see the answer keys)

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