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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 part of the meal do the women order during Act 1, Part 3?

2. According to Joan, what is a greater sin than a Pope giving birth?

3. What occupation did Griselda's husband have?

4. What was one of the Emperor's rituals?

5. Where was the journey that Gret describes?

Short Essay Questions

1. What evidence from the play supports Marlene's reason for bringing such nice gifts to the house when it was not Christmas or anyone's birthday?

2. How is Marlene compared to her coworker Howard by the other women in the office?

3. Why might Marlene have asked Joan if she considered not having the baby?

4. What is the significance of Act 1, Part 2 ending with the waitress clearing the table?

5. What parallel can be drawn between Jeanine and Marlene?

6. What sort of parenting style does Joyce have? Is any of it effective on Angie?

7. What is Joyce's attitude toward and about Angie in Act 2, Scene 2?

8. Before you learn that Shona is lying, does she show that she deserves a chance to be sent on a good job interview? Why?

9. How are Joan, Marlene, and Isabella all examples of behaving against the norms of society?

10. Why do you think the author includes a character like Isabella in the play?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the interview between Marlene and Jeanine define the conflicts and sacrifices that women in the early 1980s encountered in the post-feminist world?

Essay Topic 2

"Top Girls" is the play's title as well as the name of the employment agency where Marlene works. What is the meaning of the title of the play? What ironies exist in this title? Explain your response in detail.

Essay Topic 3

How is Griselda's character a contrast to the other women in Act 1? What is Griselda's purpose is for being in the play?

(see the answer keys)

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