View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What item is Ann sad to see is missing from her old backyard?

2. What is different about the Kellers' yard at the beginning of the play

3. What type of whether does the paper forecast for the evening?

4. How does Chris kiss Ann, according to Ann?

5. According to Sue, what is Jim turning Chris into?

Short Essay Questions

1. What promise does Chris make Ann after proposing, and how does this promise relate to his omnipresent guilt?

2. How does Joe feel about Ann's visiting the family?

3. Why does Joe take his own life?

4. How does Joe explain Steve Deever's version of events?

5. Describe the dream that Kate had the night before the play begins.

6. Why does Joe only read the want ads in the paper?

7. How does Joe defend himself to Chris regarding the money he made?

8. What order does Kate Keller give her son and husband?

9. Explain the significance of the title of the play as a thematic element?

10. Why is Kate annoyed at Joe when she comes out of the house?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose one of the following topics to write an essay:

1.) Do you consider Joe Keller to be a selfish man? Did he actually feel pressure from his wife to make money, or was this just an imagined pressure? Does his lifestyle reflect a corrupt values system?

2.) Jim Bayliss discusses a year that he abruptly left his family to do medical research in New Orleans. What this a selfish choice or an altruistic one? Was Sue Bayliss' demand that he return selfish?

3.) Compare and contrast the world views of Sue Bayliss, Kate Keller, and Ann Deever. Are any of them unreasonably focused on money?

Essay Topic 2

Why does Joe Keller kill himself? Write an essay on this topic, citing three specific realizations that Joe has in the last act of the play, leading to his going into the house to kill himself.

Essay Topic 3

The tragedy of Joe Keller's life is driven by his realization that the world does not end with his family. His only impetus to do right is to do right by his wife and sons. Write about this topic in three parts:

Part 1) Joe Keller and his son Chris have two conversations about Chris' plans for the future. Chris is disillusioned by the individualism of America after the war. What does Joe want from his son, more than anything? How do his wishes reflect a lack of understanding of his son's world view?

Part 2) Joe Keller successfully lies to himself for three and a half years regarding his complicity in the deaths of 21 pilots. How does his attitude toward his family and the rest of the world make this an easy delusion for him?

Part 3) How does Larry's letter shatter Joe Keller's world view? What does Joe realize about his duty to the world at large that brings him to kill himself?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 991 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample