Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Glass Menagerie Tests
The Glass Menagerie Tests
Test 1
1: The action of the play takes place in the
a. 1930's
b. 1950's
c. 1890's
d. 1960's
4: Amanda is from
a. Canada
b. the South
c. England
d. Mexico
6: Tom works at
a. a bakery
b. a shoe warehouse
c. a bank
d. the docks
1
8: In his first speech, Tom makes an allusion to a certain atrocity in Europe. That
atrocity is mentioned several times by Tom throughout the play. What event does Tom
refer to?
a. Guernica
b. Stalin's extermination of the Armenians
c. the Holocaust
d. the Rape of Nanking
9: Tom frequently addresses the audience from a certain part of the set. This area is an
important symbol for Tom and for the choice he faces. What area is it?
a. the chimney
b. Paradise Dance Hall
c. the bedroom
d. the fire escape
11: In the first scene, Amanda tells the story of a Sunday afternoon in Blue Mountain
when she received seventeen
a. bouquets of flowers
b. Jehovah's Witnesses
c. gentleman callers
d. letters of recommendation
2
15: Because Laura's nerves cannot handle class, Amanda becomes all the more
determined to
a. win the lottery
b. open her own business
c. find a husband for Laura
d. find Laura's long-lost father
18: Back when she was in high school, Laura had a crush on a boy named Jim. He used
to call her
a. Miss Wingfield
b. Li'l Amanda
c. Glass Menagerie Girl
d. Blue Roses
19: Amanda never allows Laura or Tom to describe Laura's condition using the word
a. crippled
b. lame
c. retarded
d. unusual
20: Amanda confiscates Tom's books and returns them to the library. These books
included a novel that Amanda thought was objectionable, a novel by
a. James Joyce
b. D.H. Lawrence
c. William Faulkner
d. Virginia Woolf
21: Tom goes to a magician. The magician's most impressive trick was
a. pulling a glass animal out of a hat
b. making himself disappear
c. escaping from a coffin without removing a single nail
d. turning water into whiskey
3
23: When Laura leaves to go get butter
a. she is accosted by a mugger, the attack symbolizing her vulnerability to predatory men
b. she forgets the way home, indicating that she is experiencing the first symptoms of
insanity
c. she has a horrible nervous breakdown, showing how incapable she is of coping with
other people
d. she stumbles on the fire escape, her fall symbolizing her inability to cope with the
world outside the tiny apartment
24: As he takes his morning coffee, Tom apologizes to his mother. He refuses to eat
any of the food she offers, possibly because
a. he is still angry with her and wants to send her a message
b. he fears the food is poisoned
c. he is on a diet
d. he is hung over
25: Amanda senses that Tom wants to leave home. She tells him he can do it as soon as
a. they have found a husband for Laura
b. they have saved up two thousand dollars
c. Amanda has started her business
d. both a and b
26: Tom's predicament is one of the themes of the play. This theme could best be
described as
a. the battle between the sexes
b. the conflict between responsibility for one's family and the need to live one's own life
c. the conflict between Christian faith and science
d. the conflict between cynical apathy and the need for political
28: The place that is the correct answer to question 27 has a symbolic name. In the play,
this name symbolizes, among other things,
a. the conflict between Christian faith and science
b. innocence lost and illusory hopes and dreams
c. primal power that existed before the arrival of the white man
d. Tom's dreams of a career as a professional bowler
29: On the fire escape, Amanda and Tom make wishes on the moon. Then Tom gives
her some good news:
a. he has found a gentleman caller for Laura
b. he has saved up two thousand dollars
c. he has found an investor who will help them start their new business
d. both a and b
4
30: Amanda drills Tom about the good news. She is particularly concerned that
a. Jim might be a drunkard
b. Jim might be Jewish
c. the money won't be enough
d. their new business will draw a seedy crowd
32: When Amanda tells Laura to wish on the moon, the language she uses to describe
the moon alludes to which fairy tale?
a. Snow White
b. Rapunzel
c. Sleeping Beauty
d. Cinderella
36: From Amanda's behavior before and during Jim's arrival, we can see that
a. she longs to relive her youth
b. she is an exorbitant spender
c. she has a passion for politics
d. she is too attached to the glass menagerie
5
38: Jim kisses Laura, but he has some distressing news afterward. What does he tell
her?
a. he has cancer
b. he is enlisting in the navy
c. he is engaged
d. he is joining the priesthood
6
Test 2
1. Amanda frequently talks about her husband because she
a) still loves him in spite of the fact that he deserted her
b) fears that Tom will turn out to be like him
c) wants her children to know their family heritage
a) I, II and III
b) I and III only
c) II and III only
4. Laura usually listens to her mother's stories of Blue Mountain because she
a) enjoys hearing them
b) wants Amanda to enjoy recalling her girlhood
c) expects to learn how to be popular
7
9. Laura gives Jim the broken unicorn because
a) she doesn't want him to forget her
b) she's grateful for his kindness
c) she wants him to have a wedding gift
11. Why is The Glass Menagerie an appropriate title for this play?
14. Laura recalls how self-conscious she felt in high school while "clumping up the aisle."
How would you explain Jim's response that he "never even noticed"?
15. Which characters, if any, are better off at the end of the play than they were at the
beginning?
8
Character Studies
1. What gives Tom the sense that he's in a "two-by-four" situation?
2. What are the apparent causes of Laura's removal from reality? What are the probable
hidden causes?
3. If Tom were to write home after he leaves, what would he say to Amanda? To Laura?
4. If the play were in the memory of a character other than Tom, how would the play be
different?
5. Who is the hero of the play? What evidence can you offer to support your opinion?
6. What are Amanda's strengths and failings as a mother?
5. What are the uses of illusion in everyday life? Do the play's characters use illusions in
an unusual way?