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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 are the hand knitters in Ballybeg going to do?

2. Who does Uncle Jack say brought a woman back from the dead?

3. What is unusual about the recruiter of which Gerry Evans learns as he writes his name?

4. What does Uncle Jack remember the children had with scones but never with soda bread?

5. Why can't Vera McLaughlin work in the new factory?

Short Essay Questions

1. What has changed about Rose's appearance when she comes home from her meeting with Danny Bradley?

2. How is the Ryangan harvest festival described by Uncle Jack similar to the festival of Lughansa?

3. What does Uncle Jack reveal about his ministry in Ryanga when Kate asks if the people gather together for Mass?

4. What news does Rose bring her family about the boy who was burned during the Lughnasa fires?

5. Who does Maggie forget to count when she is calculating people they must feed for dinner?

6. Where did Gerry Evans sign up for military service, and why is that location significant?

7. How does the Industrial Revolution affect the lives of the Mundy sisters?

8. The recruiter tells Gerry Evans that he is invaluable to the brigade because he is a master at disguising himself. How does this revelation relate to the false impression he has given to Gerry Evans?

9. What does it tell you about Gerry Evans that he says he will check the ignition and sparking plugs of the radio?

10. What phrase did Kate hit upon that comforted her as she tried to understand Uncle Jack's changed attitude toward life since his stay in Ryanda?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Maggie asks riddles of young Michael, and he never offers any possible answers, even when she chides him for being stupid. In the end, she herself has forgotten the answer to the riddle she poses. Analyze the playwright's use of riddles in this way. What do you think he is trying to say about Maggie? About Michael? About life?

Essay Topic 3

Rose is described as "simple," yet she is the one who informs the family about goings-on in the village and in the world around them. How do you imagine that she gets this information, and what does it tell you about her and the way the family views her? Use examples from the play to explore Rose's character. Do her sisters understand her? Does she understand them? Why or why not?

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