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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. Which elements of the English alphabet have no agreed speech value?

2. Who is Alexander Melville Bell?

3. What type of person does Shaw indicate is the hero of Pygmalion?

4. What mistake does Liza make in the bathroom?

5. Which is true of Pygmalion at the time Shaw wrote his Preface?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are three methods of phonetic shorthand that Shaw mentions in Pygmalion, and what are they used for?

2. What makes some English people despise others? What can we infer would solve this problem?

3. Why does Liza's father come to see Higgins?

4. What does Freddy do at the beginning of Act 1 that shows poor manners?

5. What bet does Pickering make with Higgins? Why does Higgins accept?

6. What does Higgins think of the Flower Girl's accent? What humorous hyperbole does he use in speaking to her?

7. Why, according to Shaw, is it important that people be trained scientifically to lose their accents, rather than simply learning by imitation?

8. How does Higgins feel about women?

9. Why does the English language need to be reformed, according to Shaw?

10. What should all great art be, according to Shaw? Do you agree? What does Shaw hope his play will teach?

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 about symbolism in the play.

Part 1) One of Liza's treasured possessions is a birdcage. Consider what a birdcage symbolizes in Liza's life. For instance, what imprisons Liza, and when does she ultimately become free? Examine in particular her conversations with Higgins in Acts 4 and 5.

Part 2) Higgins has a dish of chocolates on the piano. In Act 4, Liza puts her ring into the dish. Why does she do this? What do the chocolates and the ring symbolize for Liza?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay examining the attitudes toward love and marriage in the play.

Part 1) How does Shaw satirize, or make fun of, conventional attitudes toward love and marriage, for instance, through Higgins and Doolittle?

Part 2) What, according to Shaw in his Epilogue, is the balance of power men and women seek in marriage? What is an ideal marriage like?

Part 3) Why do some men never marry?

(see the answer keys)

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