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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. How does Odets foreshadow some of the main characters in the play?

2. Why does Joe think the workers need to strike?

3. To whom is the first character speaking?

4. Who has ordered the research in Laboratory A?

5. What is one thing Fatt accuses "reds" of doing?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Benjamin coming to see Dr. Barnes?

2. How does Edna's opinion about striking differ from Joe's opinion and why?

3. How does Fatt try to dismiss the workers?

4. What does Agate's dialogue about the union button imply?

5. What do you think Sid and Florence feel by the end of Scene 4?

6. What is the benefit of having a speaker with experience with a strike talk to the workers?

7. How are Scenes 1 and 2 related?

8. Why is Dr. Barnes limited by what he can do to express his outrage at the changes in medicine?

9. What does Fayette's dialogue in which he uses the words "pollacks and niggers" say about his prejudice?

10. What does Joe think of Lefty?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Color or the suggestion of color is used metaphorically throughout Scene 1. Name the colors and metaphors, and discuss the advantages of using color to discuss the situation occurring in the Scene. Are there particular emotions, beliefs, or rituals associated with the colors beyond the meanings implied by the metaphors?

Essay Topic 2

Odets uses two techniques to shift the reader back and forward in time in order to tell his story. What two techniques does he use and where in the story does he use them? What are the benefits of using these techniques? The downside? If you were re-writing the play, how would you rearrange the scenes?

Essay Topic 3

Fatt argues his case for not striking by introducing two important concepts, patriotism and disloyalty, and refers repeatedly to one primary source for his proof. Discuss why patriotism and disloyalty would carry such weight at this time in history. What events, if any, could have contributed to the beliefs that Fatt expresses? What other sources were available to aid Fatt in arguing his position?

(see the answer keys)

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