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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 is always relative to someone or something, according to the author?

2. When a scene ends the same way it begins, it is ____, and therefore boring because it ignores drama, according to the author.

3. What does Egri define as the no-return point and the highest in the scene?

4. Who wrote the play "Ghosts"?

5. The author asserts that despite bad writing, many plays garner fans because _____.

Short Essay Questions

1. What example does the author present for the emergence of conflict in Book III: Conflict, Chapter 1: Origin of Action?

2. What are the four divisions of conflict related by the author?

3. What does the author write about the obligatory scene?

4. How can messages be conveyed with dialogue? What should the writer avoid?

5. How does the author describe jumping conflict?

6. Where does the author assert exposition should exist in a play?

7. What kind of conflict does the author exemplify in the play "Idiot's Delight"?

8. What is the author's example from "Tartuffe" regarding conflict?

9. What does Egri show by example with the play "Stevedore"?

10. How does the author approach the discussion of exposition in a dramatic work?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and discuss jumping conflict and melodrama in dramatic literature. What leads to characters "jumping"? How can this be prevented?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Egri's assessment of the premise of "The Tragedy of Macbeth". Who are the pivotal character and antagonist in this play?

Essay Topic 3

Define and discuss the element and characteristics of action. How is action defined by the author? What drives the action of a play?

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