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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. Who is seated on stage at the opening of The Bald Soprano?

2. Of whom does the fire chief say, "It is she who extinguished my first fires"?

3. What did the Smiths' son want to drink at dinner?

4. Who did the Smiths' maid go to the cinema with in The Bald Soprano?

5. Whose mother courted Mr. Smith in The Bald Soprano?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Martin when they "meet."

2. What is the effect of reading the stage directions before the action in The Lesson?

3. As the lesson continues, how does the professor's and the pupil's demeanor change?

4. What initial conversation takes place between the professor and the pupil in The Lesson?

5. What happens in the beginning of The Lesson? What is the setting?

6. How does the ending of The Lesson relate to the other plays' endings in the collection?

7. Describe the fire chief's arrival in The Bald Soprano.

8. Describe the transitions of the professor and the pupil in The Lesson.

9. Describe the doorbell in The Bald Soprano.

10. Describe the professor's discourse on philology.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the meaning of the invisible guests in The Chairs. How do they compare with the orator? Are they real or imaginary?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the ending of the play, The Chairs. What happens in the ending? Why? What is the point of the orator's words or lack thereof?

Essay Topic 3

What is the author's overall message in these plays? What does this have to do with Absurdism and Existentialism? What is Ionesco's philosophy on life and its meaning?

(see the answer keys)

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