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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. Why does Mother Courage claim her price is a good one for a bird at this time?

2. What does the recruiting officer offer Eilif if he joins the army?

3. When Kattrin puts on Yvette's clothes, what about Yvette does she imitate?

4. When Eilif wants to join the army, Mother Courage tells him he's never happy until he's _______.

5. Mother Courage is afraid they will make Kattrin a ____ if the soldiers see her in Yvette's clothes.

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Kattrin run out to the peasant's house in Scene 5?

2. What affect does Mother Courage's performance of "The Song of Great Capitulation" have?

3. What is making the recruiting officer lose his confidence in mankind?

4. Does the chaplain see a difference between war and peace?

5. Does Mother Courage seem more human in Scene 8?

6. When Mother Courage refuses to help the peasant family, has Kattrin's defiance of her mother escalated?

7. Why does Kattrin refuse to come out of the wagon through Scene 8?

8. Earlier in the play, would we have expected Mother Courage to go with the cook? Why/how has she changed?

9. Why does "Mother Courage" end with Mother Courage pulling her cart and singing?

10. In Scene 6, how does the chaplain begin to see Mother Courage?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Virtue is valued differently in times of peace and war and is used as a commodity throughout the play. Discuss the purpose of "virtue" to the characters of "Mother Courage" and the play's statement of war as a whole.

Essay Topic 2

Motherhood is one of the defining traits of Mother Courage's character. How does "motherhood" function in "Mother Courage and Her Children"?

Essay Topic 3

Throughout "Mother Courage" characters use song to express themselves and Brecht uses them to flesh out moments. What is the purpose and effect of the musical quality of the play?

(see the answer keys)

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