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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. Why does Eben offer the others money in Part 1 of Desire Under the Elms?
(a) To sell the farm.
(b) To hire new workers.
(c) To sign over the farm.
(d) To bribe them to kill their father.

2. Where has Marsden been before the play begins in Strange Interlude?
(a) China.
(b) South America.
(c) Africa.
(d) Europe.

3. Who does Nina ask to come upstairs and help her pack, in Act 1 of Strange Interlude?
(a) Evans.
(b) Leeds.
(c) Marsden.
(d) Mary.

4. What is Evans trying to do at the beginning of Act 4 in Strange Interlude?
(a) Type ads.
(b) Write a novel.
(c) Cook dinner.
(d) Clean house.

5. Who does Eben leave to find at the end of Desire Under the Elms?
(a) His father.
(b) His brothers.
(c) His mother.
(d) The Sheriff.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what does Ephraim say you can read the years of his life?

2. How old is the character, Simeon, in Desire Under the Elms?

3. When does Nina announce that she is leaving in Part 1, Act 1 in Strange Interlude?

4. Who has Nina married in Act 3 of Strange Interlude?

5. What does Ephraim say he'd turn free when he died?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where do the conflicts arise between the family in Desire Under the Elms? How do the characters' objectives lead to the essential conflict?

2. Why does Nina say she's going away in Act 1 of Strange Interlude?

3. Describe the "character" of Minnie in Desire Under the Elms. What is she representative of?

4. How does Eben's position in the household contribute to his conflicts over the estate in Desire Under the Elms?

5. In the climax of Part 3 in Desire Under the Elms, what takes place between Abbie, Ephraim and Eben?

6. What does Abbie confess to Eben in Part 3 in Desire Under the Elms? What is his reaction?

7. What is the symbolic statement behind Abbie and Eben's entrance into the parlor in Part 2 in Desire Under the Elms?

8. How does Nina feel about her family in Act 7 of Strange Interlude? How does she feel about her life and about Darrell?

9. In what ways does Evans compare himself to Gordon in Act 2 of Strange Interlude?

10. Who is Eben said to resemble in Desire Under the Elms?

(see the answer keys)

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