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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. The author takes a look at when a play's story moves from something like love to hate, and claims that in order to have this, things need to be _____.
(a) Gradual.
(b) Blurred together.
(c) Quick.
(d) Well-defined.

2. According to the author, you must present a character as _____.
(a) A principled person.
(b) Beautiful.
(c) An aesthetic.
(d) An individual.

3. What Classic Greek philosopher claimed character was secondary to action?
(a) Xenophanes.
(b) Aristotle.
(c) Heraclitus.
(d) Sophocles.

4. What American writer wrote "The root-idea is the beginning of the process"?
(a) John Steinbeck.
(b) F. Scott Fitzgerald.
(c) John Howard Lawson.
(d) Langston Hughes.

5. Lajos Egri compels the writer to know that their characters should not be dependent on their _____.
(a) Imagination.
(b) Pen.
(c) Thoughts.
(d) Premise.

Short Answer Questions

1. Whom do Juliet's parents try to get her to marry in "Romeo and Juliet"?

2. Who wrote "Oedipus Rex"?

3. It is the job of the character to prove what?

4. When did Lajos Egri die?

5. What is Nora's last name in "A Doll's House"?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author describe contradiction and dialectics?

2. What is the first step to fleshing out characters, according to the author?

3. How is the antagonist defined and described by the author?

4. What example does the author give for the use of dialectics in perceiving contradictions in Book II: Character, Chapter 3: The Dialectical Approach?

5. What are the three dimensions the author describes as "bone structure"?

6. What does the author assert of writers who decide to write of their own experiences?

7. How does Egri relate the premise to the universal truth?

8. Describe Egri's example about a crime play in Book I: Premise. Why does he assert it does not work?

9. What examples does Egri use in Book I: The Premise to describe love in a play?

10. What does the author assert about character development in Chapter 7: Characters Plotting Their Own Play?

(see the answer keys)

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