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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 does Higgins notice about Liza's father, Doolittle?
2. Which of the following describes the Gentleman (later identified as Pickering)?
3. What is a problem with the English language, according to Shaw?
4. What are the Pitman and Gregg systems?
5. Which is true of Pygmalion at the time Shaw wrote his Preface?
Short Essay Questions
1. What does the Flower Girl do at the end of Act 1 that shows she has a sense of pride and dignity about her?
2. Describe Higgins's laboratory. What does it reveal about his character?
3. What does Liza likely mean when she says "I'm a good girl, I am"? Why does she say this?
4. What does Higgins do for the Flower Girl? What prompts him to do so? What does this act suggest about Higgins?
5. What does Higgins's housekeeper, Mrs. Pearce, think about the plan? Who seems to have a more sensible view of the situation, Higgins or Mrs. Pearce?
6. Describe the Flower Girl.
7. What bet does Pickering make with Higgins? Why does Higgins accept?
8. Why does the Flower Girl become upset at the note-taker? What is she most likely afraid of?
9. Who are Alexander Melville Bell, Alexander J. Ellis, Tito Pagliardini, and Henry Sweet, and why are they heroes to Shaw?
10. Describe Higgins.
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Critics of Shaw often comment that the servants in his plays have better sense than their masters. Write an essay in which you examine the role of Mrs. Pearce in the play, looking in particular at the way she argues with Higgins in Act 2 over what should be done with Liza. Does Mrs. Pearce have better sense than Higgins? Explain, using examples from the play.
Essay Topic 2
Write an essay in which you examine the negative consequences of having money and social status in Pygmalion. Liza's father, Alfred Doolittle, is poor but does not wish to have money. Why? When he comes into money, why does he blame Higgins for delivering him into the hands of middle-class morality? Does he make a good point? What are some of the drawbacks to having money? What are the restrictions of being in a particular social class?
Essay Topic 3
Write an essay examining satire in Pygmalion. Satire is a humorous writing that exposes the foolishness of certain customs, behaviors, and institutions of society. What conventional beliefs and attitudes of the English middle class does Shaw satirize? Examine in particular:
--The speeches of Alfred Doolittle about middle-class morality and marriage.
--The arrogance of Higgins, and what his mother and Mrs. Pearce think of him.
--Neppomuck's foolish pomposities at the Embassy party.
--The characters of the snobbish Clara and her mother Mrs. Eynsford Hill, who clings to her past.
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This section contains 1,029 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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