Identification of Plays

Help Questions

AP English Literature and Composition › Identification of Plays

Questions 1 - 10
1

What theatrical genre is characterized by its series of unrelated music, magic, comedy, dancing, and/or circus acts all on one playbill?

vaudeville

Broadway

burlesque

satire

talkies

Explanation

The theatrical genre described in the question is vaudeville, a genre that developed in late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century America. It has its roots in a range of different disciplines, including stage magic, burlesque, circus sideshows, and musical theater.

2

What theatrical genre is characterized by its series of unrelated music, magic, comedy, dancing, and/or circus acts all on one playbill?

vaudeville

Broadway

burlesque

satire

talkies

Explanation

The theatrical genre described in the question is vaudeville, a genre that developed in late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century America. It has its roots in a range of different disciplines, including stage magic, burlesque, circus sideshows, and musical theater.

3

What theatrical genre is characterized by its series of unrelated music, magic, comedy, dancing, and/or circus acts all on one playbill?

vaudeville

Broadway

burlesque

satire

talkies

Explanation

The theatrical genre described in the question is vaudeville, a genre that developed in late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century America. It has its roots in a range of different disciplines, including stage magic, burlesque, circus sideshows, and musical theater.

4

Several American plays have been considered “firsts”—the first American play, the first professionally produced American play, the first American play written by an African-American, or even the first play by a “professional” American playwright. Which of the following works cannot claim ANY of these distinctions?

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral by Phillis Wheatley

Androboros by Robert Hunter

The Prince of Parthia by Thomas Godfrey

The Drama of King Shotaway unknown

Andre by Robert Dunlap

Explanation

Although Phillis Wheatley was indeed the first published African-American writer and woman, she did not write plays. As the title of her publication indicates, she wrote poetry.

5

Several American plays have been considered “firsts”—the first American play, the first professionally produced American play, the first American play written by an African-American, or even the first play by a “professional” American playwright. Which of the following works cannot claim ANY of these distinctions?

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral by Phillis Wheatley

Androboros by Robert Hunter

The Prince of Parthia by Thomas Godfrey

The Drama of King Shotaway unknown

Andre by Robert Dunlap

Explanation

Although Phillis Wheatley was indeed the first published African-American writer and woman, she did not write plays. As the title of her publication indicates, she wrote poetry.

6

Several American plays have been considered “firsts”—the first American play, the first professionally produced American play, the first American play written by an African-American, or even the first play by a “professional” American playwright. Which of the following works cannot claim ANY of these distinctions?

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral by Phillis Wheatley

Androboros by Robert Hunter

The Prince of Parthia by Thomas Godfrey

The Drama of King Shotaway unknown

Andre by Robert Dunlap

Explanation

Although Phillis Wheatley was indeed the first published African-American writer and woman, she did not write plays. As the title of her publication indicates, she wrote poetry.

7

“How you can sit there, calmly eating muffins when we are in this horrible trouble, I can’t make out. You seem to me to be perfectly heartless."

"Well, I can’t eat muffins in an agitated manner. The butter would probably get on my cuffs. One should always eat muffins quite calmly. It is the only way to eat them."

"I say it’s perfectly heartless your eating muffins at all, under the circumstances.”

Identify the title and author of the passage.

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward

The Dumb Waiter by Harold Pinter

The Way of the World by William Congreve

Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett

Explanation

These lines, exchanged between Jack and Algernon, are from Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest. The play, whose full title is The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People, was first performed in 1895. It is a satirical look at Victorian social rules and obligations. The word "bunburying" is famously used in its plot to mean to assume an alter ego in a different locale so as to get out of social obligations. Much of the play's plot and repartee centers around identity, and in particular, confusion surrounding the name "Ernest."

Passage adapted from Act II of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (1895)

8

“How you can sit there, calmly eating muffins when we are in this horrible trouble, I can’t make out. You seem to me to be perfectly heartless."

"Well, I can’t eat muffins in an agitated manner. The butter would probably get on my cuffs. One should always eat muffins quite calmly. It is the only way to eat them."

"I say it’s perfectly heartless your eating muffins at all, under the circumstances.”

Identify the title and author of the passage.

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward

The Dumb Waiter by Harold Pinter

The Way of the World by William Congreve

Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett

Explanation

These lines, exchanged between Jack and Algernon, are from Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest. The play, whose full title is The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People, was first performed in 1895. It is a satirical look at Victorian social rules and obligations. The word "bunburying" is famously used in its plot to mean to assume an alter ego in a different locale so as to get out of social obligations. Much of the play's plot and repartee centers around identity, and in particular, confusion surrounding the name "Ernest."

Passage adapted from Act II of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (1895)

9

“How you can sit there, calmly eating muffins when we are in this horrible trouble, I can’t make out. You seem to me to be perfectly heartless."

"Well, I can’t eat muffins in an agitated manner. The butter would probably get on my cuffs. One should always eat muffins quite calmly. It is the only way to eat them."

"I say it’s perfectly heartless your eating muffins at all, under the circumstances.”

Identify the title and author of the passage.

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward

The Dumb Waiter by Harold Pinter

The Way of the World by William Congreve

Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett

Explanation

These lines, exchanged between Jack and Algernon, are from Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest. The play, whose full title is The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People, was first performed in 1895. It is a satirical look at Victorian social rules and obligations. The word "bunburying" is famously used in its plot to mean to assume an alter ego in a different locale so as to get out of social obligations. Much of the play's plot and repartee centers around identity, and in particular, confusion surrounding the name "Ernest."

Passage adapted from Act II of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (1895)

10

Blanche DuBois, Stella Kowalski, and Harold Mitchell are major characters from which of the following plays?

A Streetcar Named Desire

Death of a Salesman

Our Town

Twelve Angry Men

Mourning Becomes Electra

Explanation

These are central characters in Tennessee Williams' 1947 American play, A Streetcar Named Desire. The plot follows Blanche Dubois who abandons her previous life of aristocracy after a series of personal failures to live with her brother and sister-in-law in New Orleans. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948.

Page 1 of 19
Return to subject