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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. When Elliot poses as Haikumom online and Orangutan asks for a poem, what question does Elliot type instead?

2. What reason does ChutesAndLadders give for discouraging Orangutan from visiting her birth parents?

3. What major water feature is present in the city where Orangutan was born?

4. What metaphor does ChutesAndLadders use to describe what may happen to Orangutan's heart if she does meet her birth parents?

5. What does Elliot find on the floor of Odessa's house that causes him to think she has suffered a drug overdose?

Short Essay Questions

1. What wrong assumption does John/Fountainhead make based on Odessa/Haikumom's appearance?

2. After Elliot angrily tells the story of Mary Lou's death, what does Odessa/Haikumom do that foreshadows her coming relapse?

3. What are Odessa/Haikumom's instructions to John/Fountainhead after she regains consciousness in the hospital?

4. What does John/Fountainhead finally admit just before Elliot and Yazmin enter the diner?

5. What subject does John/Fountainhead try to avoid by making small talk about Puerto Rico?

6. What is the significance of Odessa/Haikumom's whereabouts and actions during the time her sister Ginny's funeral is taking place across town?

7. How does the play's theme of the relationship between past and present play out in Scene Ten when three different events happen onstage simultaneously?

8. What kinds of qualities does the audience surmise about Ginny's character through hearing Elliot and Yaz deliver her eulogy?

9. How does Elliot react to Odessa/Haikumom's claim that she does not have money to contribute for Ginny's funeral wreath?

10. What is the playwright's purpose in having three different scenes play out at the same time in Scene Eleven?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the significance of the Ghost in the play. What is the playwright's purpose in including the Ghost and how does the Ghost's presence reflect particular themes put forth by the play as a whole? Choose specific quotes from both the dialogue and the stage directions in order to support your claim.

Essay Topic 2

What is the function of John/Fountainhead's character within the play? What themes does his character help to highlight and how do his character traits help shape the play's message? Support your claims with concrete examples and quotes from the play's narrative.

Essay Topic 3

Perform a biographical criticism of Water by the Spoonful by researching Quiara Alegria Hudes's life and work. Be sure to create a strong and specific claim focused on this particular play and then support that claim with quotes from the play and from your playwright research.

(see the answer keys)

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