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| Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. What does Kreton want to watch Ellen do?
2. Why does Kreton claim his race is perfect?
3. Why does the aide think Powers hates him?
4. Who joins in with Kreton as he sings at the end of Act II?
5. What topic do Kreton and the cat discuss at the beginning of Act II?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Kreton notes in the play that humans have an odd view of sex, in that they treat it as a taboo subject, while openly admitting their love for violence and death. Choose one of the following to write about.
1. Sex and violence are linked throughout the novel in several areas. Describe one of these situations. What was happening in the book? How are sex and violence linked? Why? What was the author trying to say?
2. Kreton notes that sex is a taboo subject. Is this true? Why? What makes human beings treat the topic of sex as they do? Is this logical? Why or why not?
3. Ellen notes that human beings think of sex often. Is this true? If so, why? If not, why would Ellen say this? Why is it okay to think about sex, but not to discuss it? What was the author trying to say about the attitudes of society toward sex?
Essay Topic 2
The government of the United States, and the people in the Spelding household, are shown to be extremely suspicious of anything out of the ordinary. Kreton, later in the novel, notes that humans are suspicious by nature. Do you think this is true? Why or why not? When something occurs out of the ordinary, or when we, as humans, meet new people, do we assume they are friendly, or unfriendly? Why is this? What was Vidal trying to say about human nature?
Essay Topic 3
In the play, Conrad plays the role of a pacifist throughout most of the scenes. However, when faced with a man having sexual thoughts about his girlfriend, he becomes violent. What does this say about Conrad's character? About pacifism? Is he truly a pacifist? His reasoning is that everyone, at some point, loses control, but that this doesn't make them naturally violent. Do you agree? Why or why not?
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This section contains 420 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) |
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