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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 of the following is not a drunken act that George warns Martha against?

2. Why did Martha live alone with her father for most of her early life?

3. How does George refer to Martha's new outfit?

4. What reason does George give for not kissing Martha?

5. Which is not among the "damnedest" drinks that Geroge says Martha used to prefer?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the cloistered world that George and Martha have created at the beginning of the play.

2. Describe George.

3. How does George set Martha up for embarrassment as he opens the door?

4. What arrangement do Martha and George come to at the end of their argument and how does the arrangement seem to suit them?

5. Describe the state Honey is in during this scene.

6. In what ways do George and Martha disagree about the particulars of their son?

7. Compare George and Martha's attitudes to her father and its effect on George's career?

8. What are some of the admonishments that George gives Martha in this section?

9. Describe George's reaction to Martha's seduction of Nick.

10. Why does George kill their son?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Several of the characters have nervous habits: Martha chews ice, Honey peels labels, etc. Write an essay on the significance of these nervous tick to the action of the play. What do they say about the character and about the themes of the work?

Essay Topic 2

The past is an ambiguous thing in Albee's play. It is never entirely concrete and often changes depending on the speaker. Write a paragraph about each of the following stories told by a character about the past. How does the story change with each telling? Is the story true in any way?

Part 1) The story of Nick and Honey's courtship

Part 2) The story of George's tragic schoolfriend

Part 3) The story of George and Martha's son's childhood

Essay Topic 3

Choose one of the following to write an essay:

1) Discuss the motif of neglectful, imperfect and absent parents in the play. How do you think the reemergence of this in characters' lives impacts the the action.

2) Discuss the idea of children as healing, and the desperation for love among the characters born from this idea. Use Honey and Martha's characters as subjects for this essay.

(see the answer keys)

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