Our Town – Unit Test
MODERN DRAMA and THORNTON WILDER
1. Contrasted with movies, plays a) concentrate on speech, instead of physical
action, b) are more subtle, c) contain less violence, d) are longer in length
2. The conflict in a play usually involves
a. opposing physical forces
b. opposing attitudes and desires
c. a character’s self-respect
d. interior problems
3. The most important difference between a novel and a play is that
a. a novel is read and a play is not
b. a novel relates an experience that must be imagined, while a play enables
us to experience events with its characters
c. a novel is usually much shorter than a play
d. the characters in a play are more powerful than the imagined
characters in a novel
4. The term theater poetry refers to
a. the combination of many elements to create a single dramatic effect
b. the characters are usually sympathetic
c. the playwright presents universal human experiences
d. theater poetry is at work
5. Audiences identify with the characters in a drama because
a. everyone’s life is really the same
b. the characters are usually sympathetic
c. the playwright presents universal human experiences
d. theater poetry is at work
6. Wilder lived in many areas of the U.S. but he was born in
a. China
b. Chicago, IL
c. Berkeley, CA
d. Madison, WI
7. He lived during
a. the early 20th century
b. the early 21st century
c. the early 19th century
d. the Renaissance
8. Several of his works won major awards. These included the
a. Nobel Prize
b. Pulitzer Prize c. Emmy award
9. His most famous novel is entitled
a. The Skin of Our Teeth
b. The Matchmaker
c. The Bridge of San Luis Rey
d. The Cabala
10. After reading Our Town it is easy to see that to Wilder the most important
part of a drama is its
a. setting
b. character
c. theme
d. plot
UNDERSTANDING THE PLAY
11. The playwright develops the plot of Our Town by what means?
a. Having people grow older before our eyes
b. shifting backward and forward in time
c. Combining prose and poetry
d. Leaving all factual materials to the Stage Manager
12. The first indication in Act One that the Stage Manager is omniscient is his
a. statement that the play begins just before dawn
b. description of the way the town’s streets run
c. reference to the popular grocery store and drugstore
d. prediction that the first automobile will be along in five years
13. A copy of this play is to be put in the cornerstone of the new bank so that
a. the name of the town will be perpetuated
b. posterity will possess an example of an experimental play
c. the real life of the town will be revealed to people of the future
d. the Stage Manager’s true role will be preserved for the future
14. Emily’s first moments of worrying in the play involve whether
a. George likes her
c. she is really pretty
b. she will make a good speech
d. George should become a farmer
15. The play’s language can be identified as all of the following except
a. essentially simple
c. sometimes phonetically spelled
b. unambiguous
d. uneducated and illiterate
16. The scene in which Emily and George discover they are in love is an example of
a. a flashback
b. melodrama
c. pantomime
d. comedy
17. Throughout Act II, Thornton wilder drops hints that reveal future
developments in the play. This device is called
a. point of view
c. theater poetry
b. desperate situation
d. foreshadowing
18. In his speech opening Act III, the Stage Manager states that – in spite of
what people say – everyone believes that
a. death is full of sorrow
c. something is eternal
b. cemeteries are beautiful places
d. change is inevitable
19. When does Emily realize the difference between the living and the dead?
a. After a number of years in the cemetery
b. Almost at once after her funeral
c. When Mrs. Gibbs explains things to her
d. When the Stage Manager describes the differences
20. The mood on which Thornton wilder intends to base the final act of Our Town
can best be described as
a. gloomy
b. matter-of-fact
c. sentimental
d. gruesome
21. Thornton Wilder’s main purpose in using no scenery in Our Town was probably to
a. avoid distracting the audience
b. save on production costs
c. give the Stage Manager a more important role
d. suggest that the town could be anywhere
22. A principal contribution of the Stage Manager to the play’s theme and
universality of application involves his
a. sympathy and patience
c. willingness to explain matters
b. complete detachment
d. acting as a substitute for scenery
23. A main theme in the play is the view that
a. human feelings and understanding are limited
b. life on this earth is painfully short
c. the dead may actually be happier than the living
d. love and happiness are very rare things
24. According to the Stage Manager – and to Our Town as a whole – the only people
who understand life may be
a. elderly husbands and wives
c. happy school children
b. saints and poets
d. the members of a wedding
25. The point of view of the Stage Manager seems to be that
a. life doesn’t really offer a great deal of choice
b. people haven’t much to look forward to after death
c. most people lead dull, unhappy lives
d. life can be rich and happy, and death serene
IDENTIFYING QUOTES – For each letter “a” identify the speaker of the quote.
For each letter “b” identify to whom the character was speaking.
26-27. “Here’s the Town Hall and Post Office combined; jail’s in the basement.”
a.
b.
28-29. “I declare, you got to speak to George. Seems like something’s come over
him lately. He’s no help to me at all. I can’t even get him to cut me some wood.”
a.
b.
30-31. “The population, at the moment, is 2,642. The postal District brings in 507
more, making a total of 3,149.”
a.
b.
32-33. “Get it out of your heads that music’s only good when it’s loud. You leave
loudness to the Methodists.”
a.
b.
34-35. “So I guess this is an important talk we’ve been having.”
a.
b.
36-37. “And when I saw you comin’ down that aisle, I thought you were the
prettiest girl I’d ever seen, but the only trouble was that I’d never seen you
before. There I was in the Congregational Church marrying a total stranger.”
a.
b.
38-39. “I’d rather have my children healthy than bright.”
a.
b.
40-41. “Let’s look at one another.”
a.
b.
42-43. “Yes, now you know. Now you know! That’s what it was to be alive. To move
about in a cloud of ignorance; to go up and down trampling on the feelings of
those. . . of those about you. To spend and waste time as though you had a
million years.”
a.
b.
44-45. “They don’t understand, do they?”
a.
b.
ESSAY – You have had much time to discuss these topics, so pick two questions to
answer in your best essay form for 10 points each.
Contrast the mood, tone, and events in Act III with the Beatles song “Eleanor
Rigby.”
Discuss the role of the Stage Manager. Include his physical description, varying
roles, entrances and exits from the scenes, etc.
Compare and contrast life in Grover’s Corners, NH, at the turn of the century with
life in Clinton, Iowa, at the turn of this century.
Who or what is “the real hero” that the Stage Manager refers to in Act II?
Is this play too dated to be relevant today? Explain your answer using specific
examples.
“Blessed Be the Tie That Binds” is used in all three acts. Why is it significant?
The stage manager thinks it would be a good idea to place a time capsule in the new
bank under construction. In the capsule, he would place a copy of The Sentinel, The
New York Times, the U.S. Constitution, the Bible, Shakespeare’s works, and the text
of the play he is participating in, Our Town. What is the significance of these items
in terms of what they tell you about Grover’s Corners?
How would you sum up the theme of Our Town?