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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. Where is Orin wounded in the war?

2. Who goes to the train station with Lavinia to meet Orin?

3. Who does Lavinia say that Captain Brant is using for revenge?

4. Ezra is a highly regarded ___________ of the town.

5. Which of the following Greek dramas is NOT source material for Mourning Becomes Electra?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Orin say about the war that shocks Christine, Hazel and Peter?

2. How does the war change Ezra's view about death?

3. What does Christine accuse Lavinia of at the end of the first act of the second play?

4. What does Orin mean when he tells her that he can forgive her for anything, except being with Brant?

5. What plans do Christine and Brant make when she comes to see him on his ship?

6. How does Peter react to seeing Lavinia when she returns from her trip to the East?

7. What does Christine say when Orin confronts her about Captain Brant, the day he returns from the war?

8. Who is Lavinia Mannon?

9. What is remarkable about Lavinia's appearance in the third play?

10. Why does Lavinia refuse Peter's marriage proposal in the first act of the play?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast the characters of Peter and Hazel to Orin and Lavinia. What does the start differences in these character types illustrate in the play?

Essay Topic 2

How do Orin and Lavinia begin to resemble their parents, not only in appearance, but in the very words they speak by the end of the play? What are the thematic implications of this metamorphosis?

Essay Topic 3

What kind of demands on the audience does Mourning Becomes Electra make? Discuss the structure, length and emotional weight of the play.

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