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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 Evans trying to do at the beginning of Act 4 in Strange Interlude?

2. How much time passes between Acts 6 and 7 in Strange Interlude?

3. Who finds Professor Leeds' body?

4. Where is the main room in which the dancing is taking place in Part 3 of Desire Under the Elms?

5. Who is Nina writing a letter to at the beginning of Act 3 in Strange Interlude?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the symbolism of the fence on the Cabot farm in Desire Under the Elms.

2. Describe the thematic elements which are shared by Desire Under the Elms and the other plays in the collection.

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

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

5. In Part 2 of Desire Under the Elms, how does Abbie attempt to rectify her relationship with Eben? Who does she refer to with disdain?

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

7. What do Evans and his mother talk about in Act 3 of Strange Interlude? What does she ask him about Nina?

8. What news does Eben return to the farmhouse to inform his brothers of, in Part 1 of Desire Under the Elms? What is the brothers' reaction?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss how the setting of each of the three plays affects the action and the characters. How are the settings different in the plays? What correlates to each? Discuss era and historical period in your answer as well as location.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the theme of "relinquishing the ghosts of the past" in Desire Under the Elms. What is symbolically representative of the theme in the play?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the plot structure of Strange Interlude. How structurally different is this play than the others? What is the climax of the play? What is the resolution?

(see the answer keys)

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