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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 kind of medication does Susie say Vivian will get?

2. How does Susie react when Vivian explains her reaction?

3. What question does Vivian ask about a sonnet in a flashback of her student interactions?

4. What does Vivian say is the trouble when she breaks down in tears?

5. How does Vivian say she likes the poem she recites after her ultrasound?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Vivian shut her own eyelids and cross her arms over her chest?

2. What are the three points Vivian emphasizes in Donne's poem during her imaginary lecture?

3. Why does Jason simplify the explanation of Vivian's kidney function?

4. Why does Vivian feel her recitation of Donne is “wrong” in her last coherent lines?

5. How does Vivian compare a true believer with the speaker of the sonnet?

6. Why does Vivian allow Susie to call her “sweetheart?”

7. Why is Vivian unable to explain to the audience what she is going through before she receives morphine?

8. Why is it significant that someone always asked Vivian why Donne made his sonnets so complicated?

9. What is Vivian trying to think of when she reminisces about her interactions with students?

10. What is Salvation Anxiety?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain the parallel between Vivian's study of Donne and her battle with cancer. How does the study of Donne complement Vivian's illness? Why is cancer more difficult for Vivian than the study of Donne? What does this parallel reveal about Vivian's character?

Essay Topic 2

Define irony. Give at least two examples of irony in Wit. What types of irony are each of these examples? How do you know these instances are ironic? What do these instances of irony do to the story?

Essay Topic 3

Explain the importance of John Donne to the play. What role does Donne play in the story? What is Vivian's relationship with Donne? What is the parallel between Donne's works and Vivian's experience with cancer?

(see the answer keys)

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