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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 does Kate call vulgar language?

2. How does Maggie think Gerry Evans looks?

3. What does Kate say is the only thing Gerry Evans does well?

4. What animals does Maggie feed?

5. What feeling does the radio create in Michael?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Chris wear during the sisters' dancing that upsets Kate?

2. Why do you think the opening tableau shows Uncle Jack in his "resplendent" uniform, which is out of place in the play's action?

3. How has Uncle Jack brought status to the Mundy family?

4. What is Maggie's reaction to hearing that her old friend Bernie O'Donnell is in town, and why does she react this way?

5. Why does Chris call Danny Bradley a bastard?

6. Why do you think the playwright chose to have adult Michael speak the lines of child Michael instead of having two actors?

7. From what does Kate struggle to protect her home when they joke about naming the radio?

8. What does Maggie release for Michael to see?

9. How does Kate explain Uncle Jack's strange behavior?

10. What does Maggie mean when she tells Michael that someday he's going to fill some woman's life with happiness?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Dancing is a central metaphor in this play, and Michael ends the play with a monologue about what dance meant to him. Compare and contrast the effects of dance on him as a boy, when he is frightened by the wild, strange behavior of his family members as they dance, with his reflections on dance at the end of the play.

Essay Topic 2

Uncle Jack's uniform is an important symbol in this story. Analyze the appearance of his uniform in the mind's eye of young Michael and the rest of his family, and the appearance of his uniform at the end. What does the change represent? How has the family's view of Uncle Jack changed after he has been home for a few weeks?

Essay Topic 3

The character of Uncle Jack has paid a heavy cost in both body and mind to serve the lepers in Ryanga. He has also learned different ways of looking at the world than he had when he left Ireland. Do you see his character as a failure? Why or why not?

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