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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 does the interior of the greenhouse symbolize?

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

3. What does the second house guest bring from the house?

4. When the curtain opens for a second time in Act 1, what is the scene?

5. Who are Tom and Dick?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Anthony offer to do when he sees that Claire has strangled Tom?

2. Claire's internal struggle indicates her desire for what?

3. When the curtain opens for the second time in Act 1, what is the setting?

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

5. When Claire becomes frustrated with Elizabeth due to her attitude toward the plants, what does Claire do?

6. What do Claire and Tom discuss regarding "The Breath of Life"?

7. How does Anthony respond to Hattie's information?

8. After Harry leaves to smoke, what does Tom confide to Dick?

9. Following Tom's rejection of her advances in the tower room, what does Claire do?

10. What does Tom want to tell Claire early in Act 3?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How do Claire's plants illustrate her emotional state and the dissatisfaction of some women during the era of the play?

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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