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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. What type of food does the restaurant serve where Jason tells Evan he has just gotten a job after being released from prison?
(a) Avocado toast.
(b) Hot dogs.
(c) Pancakes.
(d) Pretzels.

2. What type of job does Evan hold?
(a) Parole officer.
(b) Lawyer.
(c) Police officer.
(d) Social worker.

3. When Chris and Jason encounter each other for the first time since their release from prison, what action do they take?
(a) They punch one another.
(b) They glare at one another and part.
(c) They curse at one another.
(d) They hug one another.

4. Who has moved away from Reading, Pennsylvania in order to open a bed-and-breakfast?
(a) Garth.
(b) Freddy.
(c) Oscar.
(d) Juan.

5. What ethnicity is Brucie?
(a) White.
(b) African-American.
(c) Italian-American.
(d) Chinese.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what decade of life is Brucie in the year 2000?

2. For how many years have Chris and Jason been imprisoned by the later of the two eras depicted in the play?

3. What does Stan say is the best thing that has ever happened to him?

4. Where does Chris stay immediately after he gets out of prison?

5. Who has Brucie come to the bar to see when he is first told that Chris has gained admittance to college?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Evan mean when he tells Chris that "the river keeps flowing" (9)?

2. What does Chris mean when he says, "A man gotta have one vice that keeps him hungry" (30), and how is his choice of vice different from his father Brucie's?

3. How does the theme of silence appear within the conversation that Jason and Chris have about college?

4. In what ways are Chris and Cynthia shown to have similar characteristics?

5. What is Nottage's purpose for including the character of Jessie within the narrative?

6. What is Nottage's purpose in depicting Stan and Tracey as having been involved sexually before they became friends?

7. How does Jason demonstrate a lack of awareness about white privilege during his conversation about college with Chris?

8. How does Brucie's experience at the union office again display the theme of racial tension?

9. How is the theme of racial tension presented by the playwright before any dialogue is even spoken?

10. Characterize Evan's methods of performing his job as a parole officer.

(see the answer keys)

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