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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Timmy make decisions, according to John?
(a) He listens to his friends.
(b) He makes his own.
(c) He follows John's lead.
(d) He follows Nettie's lead.

2. What does Timmy do when he returns at the end of the third scene?
(a) Looks in from the window to see what has happened.
(b) Yells from his room to see if everything is okay.
(c) Goes into the kitchen to see what has happened.
(d) Yells from the hallway to see if everything is okay.

3. What type of friends are John and Timmy talking about in the second scene of the play?
(a) Future.
(b) Common.
(c) New.
(d) Old.

4. What does John say to Nettie as the third scene is ending?
(a) That the roses were Timmy's idea.
(b) That he regrets buying the roses.
(c) That he did nothing wrong.
(d) That he is sorry for everything.

5. How do John and Timmy feel about Nettie's response to the roses in Act 1, Scene 2?
(a) They are confused.
(b) They are upset.
(c) They are excited.
(d) They are uncomfortable.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Nettie tell John after she gets the aspirin?

2. What story is told in Act 1, Scene 2?

3. What year does the play, "The Subject was Roses", take place in?

4. What New York City do the Clearys live in?

5. What kind of roses does Timmy have for Nettie in Act 1, Scene 2?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Timmy and John respond to Nettie's response to the flowers?

2. How do Nettie and John talk about Timmy's drinking in Act 2, Scene 2?

3. What is the basic difference between the way Nettie and John look at Timmy, as outlined in the beginning of the play?

4. Why is Timmy concerned about his father in the play's opening, and how does he relate that concern to his mother?

5. What does Timmy have for his mother, and how does he involve John in the gift?

6. What is interesting about the way John and Timmy react to Nettie's disappearance?

7. What symbolic act does Nettie make with the roses at the end of Act 1, Scene 3?

8. How does John's mood in the beginning of Act 2, Scene 2 compare to earlier scenes?

9. What does Timmy tell John that he argued with Nettie about and why?

10. What is the setting and date for "The Subject was Roses", and why are they significant?

(see the answer keys)

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