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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 is the second sound the audience hears in Act 1?
(a) A buzzer.
(b) A conversation.
(c) Laughter.
(d) Wind.

2. When the curtain opens for a second time in Act 1, what is the scene?
(a) The interior of a greenhouse on a sunny, snowy morning.
(b) An unusual plant in a shaft of light.
(c) A room in a tower.
(d) Outdoors in a blizzard, with a greenhouse visible.

3. Why can't the second house guest enter the greenhouse?
(a) Anthony has locked the door.
(b) Claire has locked the door.
(c) Hattie has locked the door.
(d) The door is frozen shut.

4. Who tries to get Claire to come to the phone upon Elizabeth's arrival?
(a) Dick.
(b) Tom.
(c) Anthony.
(d) Harry.

5. Who are Tom and Dick?
(a) Gardeners.
(b) House guests.
(c) Brothers of Anthony.
(d) Brothers of Harry.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Anthony try to distract Claire from worrying about the plant that is not thriving?

2. Which best describes the number of plants in the greenhouse?

3. What does Harry confide to the first house guest?

4. What does Claire try to explain to the men over breakfast?

5. Why is the first house guest uncomfortable?

Short Essay Questions

1. At the end of the play, Claire has lapsed into madness. Why does the playwright choose to end with Claire singing the verses to a religious hymn?

2. The unusual, large, untamed, twisted plants in the greenhouse symbolize what movement in the early twentieth century?

3. How does Tom respond to Claire's request in order for the door to be unlocked?

4. What character is onstage alone at the beginning of Act 2, and which two characters join the first character?

5. What is the significance of the names of the three men in this play who have been Claire's love interests?

6. Why is Harry angry the first time he appears onstage?

7. When Tom realizes the greenhouse door is locked, what does he do?

8. What is the significance of the plant being called "The Breath of Life," and what is the symbolic importance of the act of blooming?

9. What is the connection between Claire and Elizabeth?

10. What does Claire do as a result of her anger and disillusionment with Tom?

(see the answer keys)

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