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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 is Fonsia's son's name?

2. How old is Fonsia's son?

3. Weller describes what as being the worst feeling of his life?

4. In Weller's rage, he confirms having what health condition, although he claimed to have no condition in Act 1, Scene 1?

5. Weller suggests what about his business partners in Act 1, Scene 1?

Short Essay Questions

1. What about the Presbyterian home threatens both characters?

2. In what way, according to Weller, does the Home promote theft of its residents by the staff?

3. What do you think is Weller's opinion of the other residents of the home after reading Act 1, Scene 1?

4. How would you characterize the questions Weller makes to Fonsia, and how do they propel the first scene of the play?

5. What health condition of Weller's is Fonsia becoming concerned about at the end of Act 1, Scene 2?

6. What does the attire of the two characters suggest about their respective attitudes in Act 1, Scene 1?

7. At the beginning of Act 1, Scene 2, Weller's actions contrast his earlier behavior and his current dress. How so, and what does this suggest about him?

8. What does Gladys Mayes represent in the play?

9. In Act 1, Scene 1, what does the condition of the stage setting suggest about the financial standing of the residents?

10. What is Weller's immediate reaction to Fonsia's distress in Act 1, Scene 1, and what does this suggest about his character?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How much do the two characters value truth? Which character hides the truth, which one lies outright, and what does this suggest about one over the other?

Essay Topic 2

How do Fonsia's actions and confessions in the later half of the play diverge from the facade of her character in the first half of the play?

Essay Topic 3

The play is considered a tragi-comedy. How does the playwright balance the tragic aspects of the play with the comic?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 633 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample