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Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. Who is Okawa?
2. What does Kate call the people who live in the back hills?
3. What does Danny Bradley call Rose?
4. How do the sisters feel about Uncle Jack while he is in the leper colony?
5. Why doesn't Gerry Evans bring Michael a bicycle?
Short Essay Questions
1. Why does Chris call Danny Bradley a bastard?
2. Why do you think the parish priest doesn't want to look Kate in the eye since Uncle Jack came home?
3. How does Kate explain Uncle Jack's strange behavior?
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. What reasons does Kate use for refusing to go to the harvest dance?
6. We as readers are told that Rose is "simple." How does the playwright make that clear to the audience?
7. Why does Kate become angry when Rose repeats the idea that twins are a double blessing?
8. Why do you think Rose can describe the Festival of Lughnasa to her sisters?
9. The song Maggie sings says that if the Irish don't vote for De Valera, they'll be like Gandhi and his goat. What does this mean?
10. What is significant about the names Nora and Nina that Bernie O'Donnell gave to her twin daughters?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Gerry Evans' character is in many ways an act. He pretends to be a salesman, but can't sell. He pretends to be fighting for a noble cause in Spain, but doesn't know for sure what that cause is. In Michael's last glimpse of him, he is imitating Fred Astaire. After his father's war injury, Michael tells us that Gerry Evans cherished the "role" of wounded war veteran. Analyze Gerry Evans' role as almost a husband, and almost a father. Do you see him as evil and harmful? Do you see him as helpless and hopeless? Is there a tragic flaw in his character - or several? If so, what are they?
Essay Topic 2
The fox is an important metaphor in this play. If the family of women is the hen house, who is the fox? How many of the women have had unsuccessful relationships with men? List and explain each and develop your own thesis for why each situation ended unhappily.
Essay Topic 3
Analyze what it means to you that young Michael's kites have faces that are cruel and grinning, and that they are not able to fly. Why do you think the playwright put this element into his play? What do these kites tell you about young Michael's feelings toward the women in his family? Toward life in general?
This section contains 1,010 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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