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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 Sister Aloysius say boys are made of?

2. What does Father Flynn say the boys must do at the free throw line?

3. Who teaches the physical education and religion classes?

4. What does Father Flynn say about shooting from the free throw line?

5. What does Father Flynn say about his fingernails?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Father Flynn tell the boys about his childhood acquaintance Timmy Mathisson?

2. Why does Father Flynn compare the sailor's despair to a crisis of faith?

3. Why is Sister Aloysius so certain that someone will hit Donald Muller?

4. Why does Sister Aloysius think the song Frosty the Snowman is heretical?

5. Why is Sister Aloysius anxious at the beginning of Scene 5?

6. What is Father Flynn's relationship with the boys on the basketball team like?

7. Why does Father Flynn say it's important to have a routine for shooting a free throw?

8. Why does Sister Aloysius want to see Sister James become more self-confident?

9. Why does Sister Aloysius say that it makes sense for Father Flynn to take interest in Donald Muller?

10. In Scene 5, when Father Flynn says that the sound of the wind must have been very lonely in frontier days, under what circumstance does Sister Aloysius say it would be lonely?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the importance of gender roles in the play? How do they affect the interactions of the characters and the plot?

Essay Topic 2

The nature of the church's teachings play a role in this play even though they are never overtly discussed. Father Flynn's and Sister James' views on how students ought to be taught vary considerably from Sister Aloysius' views. Write an essay discussing how each of the teachers feel about the way students should be treated, how the rules should be followed, and whether or not the secular world should be included.

Essay Topic 3

Parables are used in a number of ways throughout the play. We see them in the sermons Father Flynn delivers and in the play itself. Describe what a parable is, identify at least two parables and the lessons they teach that were given in sermons during the play, and discuss how the play itself fits the model of a parable. What lesson is the play intended to teach?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 775 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample