View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Peter thinks Captain Brant looks more like a ___________ than a ship captain.

2. What does the doctor call Ezra's heart condition?

3. Lavinia writes her father a letter about whom?

4. How many days is it since Ezra's death at the beginning of the second play?

5. Who does Seth think is David Mannon's son?

Short Essay Questions

1. According to Mrs. Borden, how is Lavinia handling her father's death?

2. How does the conversation between Seth and the townspeople in the first scene of the play hint at secrets in the Mannon family?

3. What causes Lavinia to think Christine has something to do with Ezra's death?

4. Why does Adam Brant tell Lavinia he wants to kill Ezra?

5. What causes Ezra to have a heart attack the morning after he returns from the war?

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

7. How does O'Neill show a clear contrast between Christine and Hazel in Play Two, Act Five?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How is love evoked throughout the novel as a justification for sins. What are the thematic implications of the darker side of love in the play?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the thematic points of fate versus free will shown throughout Mourning Becomes Electra.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the non-plot parallels between Mourning Becomes Electra and the classical Greek tragedies it is based on.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 713 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample