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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 the first sound the audience hears in Act 1?

2. Which is the best description of Hattie?

3. Claire tries to strike Elizabeth with what?

4. What does Claire require the second house guest to do before she will let him enter the greenhouse?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Why is Claire angry about Tom's declaration?

4. What does Claire repeatedly try to explain to everyone regarding her plants?

5. What does Harry realize when Claire runs to Dick?

6. What does Harry confide to Tom and Dick, and what response does he receive?

7. For what two specific family-related matters does Adelaide chastise Claire?

8. Describe the setting of Act 2.

9. Describe the attitudes of Claire and Elizabeth when they first meet face to face in Act 1.

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The playwright plays with names in many ways, from naming Claire's love interests as "Tom, Dick, and Harry," to naming the two significant vines in the greenhouse, and even to Tom's last name, "Edgeworthy." Discuss how these name choices serve to reinforce the author's characterizations and symbolism.

Essay Topic 2

During the play and in her past, Claire has broken several of the Ten Commandments. And yet, at one point she asks Tom to say something pleasant about God, and at the end of the play she sings hymns. What do these contradictory behaviors reveal about Claire and about the playwright's attitude toward Claire's struggle?

Essay Topic 3

Claire's husband, Harry, seems to find insight into Claire's needs and motivations only after he sees that she has strangled Tom. Why did this murderous action prompt understanding when her work with the plants did not?

(see the answer keys)

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