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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Act iI suggest about the reliability of some witnesses in a trial?
(a) They can be influenced by personal experiences with criminals.
(b) They may be well-intentioned but unreliable.
(c) They are prone to confusion when questioned by legal experts.
(d) They want to be famous.

2. What does Juror Eight mean when he calls another juror a sadist?
(a) That he is dishonest.
(b) That he is a foreigner.
(c) That he is prejudiced.
(d) That he enjoys seeing someone else suffer.

3. Based on the developments of Act II, what are the jurors on their way to proving?
(a) That they all agree.
(b) That they discussed the case thoroughly.
(c) That there is reasonable doubt about the defendant's guilt.
(d) That they can prove someone else committed the murder.

4. How do the jurors try to get an accurate estimate of the time of the events described by the old man?
(a) They act out the scene in the jury room and time the different events that the old man described.
(b) They ask for detailed information from the notes of the trial.
(c) They ask each juror to explain exactly what he heard the old man say.
(d) They ask the foreman to read over the transcript.

5. What two reasons cause a juror to believe there is reasonable doubt about the defendant's guilt after adding doubts about the old man's testimony to earlier discussions about the murder?
(a) The realization that the woman wears glasses and she saw the murder through the train.
(b) The fact that the old man was hearing impaired and wore glasses.
(c) The fact that a similar weapon was easily available and that the old man might have been lying.
(d) The arguments of Juror Eight and Juror Nine.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does the involvement of the jury in acting out and assessing the allegations of the old man compare with their earlier attitude towards the evidence?

2. Which juror says he would change his vote if he could find one reason to make him question the defendant's guilt?

3. What is the reaction to the vote taken at the end of Act 1?

4. What does Juror Nine observe about the old man witness, which leads to his insights about his life?

5. Which juror admits to having changed his vote?

Short Essay Questions

1. What controversy occurs after Juror Nine shares his insights about the old man in Act II?

2. Referring to events in Act II, track the process by which Juror three is established as the antagonist.

3. What incident ensues as a result of the experiment to verify the old man's testimony?

4. What important contributions does Juror Nine make to the deliberations in Act II?

5. How does the writer use Act II to establish Juror Three and Juror Eight as the antagonist and the protagonist respectively?

6. In Act II, what are the immediate responses to the secret ballot taken by the eleven jurors?

7. How and why do the discussions of the old man and the alleged threats made by the defendant affect one of the jurors?

8. How is irony used by the writer in the confrontation between Juror Three and Juror Eight? What is the result?

9. How does the writer use the events of Act II to establish Juror Eight as the protagonist?

10. What do the events of Act II demonstrate about the group and about the influence of Juror Eight?

(see the answer keys)

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