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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 second house guest bring from the house?

2. What does Claire push off the table?

3. What does Claire try to explain to the first house guest?

4. What is the first thing the audience sees in Act 1?

5. What does the second house guest have in his hand when he first arrives?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Describe what happens after Dick asks Claire about her plants.

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

4. Describe the setting of Act 2.

5. After some order has been restored in the greenhouse, Anthony remind everyone it is time to do what?

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

7. 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?

8. After being rejected by Tom and hearing the doctor's diagnosis, who does Claire turn to next for comfort?

9. At the beginning of Act 3, what does Hattie urgently tell Anthony?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Why is Claire so unwilling or unable to show love to her daughter, Elizabeth? Do you believe Elizabeth was raised by Adelaide because there was too much tension between Claire and Elizabeth, or is there tension between Claire and Elizabeth because Elizabeth was raised by Adelaide?

Essay Topic 3

Is Claire, a clear failure as a wife and mother, a suitable role model for women of the time period? Why does the playwright choose to make her protagonist act so coldly toward her family?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 647 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample