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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. Which of the following is something that is related to have happened after the assassination in Scene 4?

2. What does Imelda say about her childhood in Scene 10?

3. How long does Imelda Marcos give Bob stone for their Scene 10 interview?

4. What does Imelda say about Daisy Avila in Scene 10?

5. What does "ka" mean?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Joey steal from Fassbinder in Scene 17?

2. Why is Lolita Luna worried in Scene 6?

3. In what state is Daisy Avila in Scene 16?

4. What state is Joey in in Scene 11?

5. How does Rio react to news of the assassination in Scene 1?

6. How does Imelda Marcos foil Bob Stone's planned interview in Scene 10?

7. What is revealed about life in Manila at the end of Scene 4?

8. What do the NPA guerrillas feel about Joey in Scene 11?

9. What does Senator Avila tell Daisy in his soliloquy in Scene 16?

10. What does Imelda Marcos say about the assassination in Scene 10?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The country of the Philippines is the primary character of Dogeaters, and it undergoes many changes as a political climate turns bloody. Write a three part essay about the transition the Philippines undergoes:

Part 1) Describe the Philippines at the beginning of the play. How do the Marcoses rule it, and what is the coal structure like? Discuss how the colonial history of the country has shaped Philippine society.

Part 2) The catalyzing event of Dogeaters is the murder of Senator Avila. Why is Avila murdered? How does the populace respond to the assassination? Discuss if and how Philippine society is changed by this upheaval.

Part 3) Discuss the state of the Philippines at the end of the play. What has changes in the sociopolitical climate, and what is the same as it was before? What cumulative effect did the coup have?

Essay Topic 2

Because the world of Dogeaters is a panorama of many characters, the intersection between high and low society is dramatized in the characters. Write an essay about three strata of Philippine society as dramatized in the play:

Part 1) Discuss the golfing party of Alacran, Ledesma, and Avila. What does this group illustrate about the ruling class in the Philippines? Are they all of a single mind? Where does their power derive from?

Part 2) Discuss the working class in the Philippines as represented by Romeo and Trini. What options are open to these individuals? What limitations do they face? Discuss how the play leaves both of these characters. What does this say about the working class in the Philippines?

Part 3) How do Perlita and Chiquiting represent a sort of intersection between the ruling and the working classes? What connection do they have between both groups? How does this make them the safest and least happy of social groups?

Essay Topic 3

Dogeaters is a sweeping narrative, and it is a play, allowing it many devices to impart information. Write an essay about the use of dramatic devices to impart information to the audience/reader:

Part 1) Discuss the framing device of the play. What is the function of Barbara and Nestor, both as individuals and as devices in the plot? How does the radio drama alter the tone of the play?

Part 2) Write an analysis of the sexual montage that occurs near the end of Act I. Which characters in the play are involved? Do any of them enjoy themselves? How does Hagedorn interweave the different sexual encounters?

Part 3) Discuss the use of monologue in the play. When characters speak directly to the audience, what do they impart? Are they covering narrative, adding emotional nuance, or both? Does the monologue affect the flow of the narrative?

(see the answer keys)

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