Dancing at Lughnasa Test | Mid-Book Test - Hard

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Short Answer Questions

1. Who is Lugh?

2. What does Maggie call Michael?

3. What does Gerry Evans want Chris to do?

4. What do the back hills people do to celebrate Lughnasa?

5. What does Gerry's customer take from him the day before yesterday?

Short Essay Questions

1. What significance does Austin Morgan have in this story?

2. What does Maggie mean when she tells Michael that someday he's going to fill some woman's life with happiness?

3. How does Kate explain Uncle Jack's strange behavior?

4. What is the difference between the way Kate dances and the dance of the other sisters?

5. Why do you think Rose can describe the Festival of Lughnasa to her sisters?

6. How has Uncle Jack brought status to the Mundy family?

7. Why do you think the opening tableau shows Uncle Jack in his "resplendent" uniform, which is out of place in the play's action?

8. How far do the Mundys live from the rest of the village, and what significance is there in that distance?

9. What do you think Michael means when he talks of a widening breach between what seemed to be and what was?

10. What reasons does Kate use for refusing to go to the harvest dance?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Gerry Evans' character is in many ways an act. He pretends to be a salesman, but can't sell. He pretends to be fighting for a noble cause in Spain, but doesn't know for sure what that cause is. In Michael's last glimpse of him, he is imitating Fred Astaire. After his father's war injury, Michael tells us that Gerry Evans cherished the "role" of wounded war veteran. Analyze Gerry Evans' role as almost a husband, and almost a father. Do you see him as evil and harmful? Do you see him as helpless and hopeless? Is there a tragic flaw in his character - or several? If so, what are they?

Essay Topic 2

The fox is an important metaphor in this play. If the family of women is the hen house, who is the fox? How many of the women have had unsuccessful relationships with men? List and explain each and develop your own thesis for why each situation ended unhappily.

Essay Topic 3

What difference does the fate of the Sweeney boy, who was burned in the festival of Lughnasa, make to the story? Cite what was believed to have happened and what actually happened. Why do you think this detail is included in the play? Is the boy a metaphor? If so, what does he represent?

(see the answer keys)

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