Distinguish Literal, Figurative Meaning: Fiction/Drama Practice Test

In this excerpt from an original drama, a man, Serge, speaks with his neighbor, Alia, in a hallway after receiving a noise complaint.

ALIA: The music was loud.

SERGE: It was one song.

ALIA: At two a.m.

SERGE: I couldn’t sleep.

ALIA: Then sit in silence like the rest of us.

SERGE: Silence is worse.

ALIA: Worse than bothering everyone?

SERGE: Silence is a room where your thoughts start multiplying.

ALIA: That’s your problem.

What does Serge mean by “thoughts start multiplying”?

In the following excerpt from an original drama, a daughter, Yvette, visits her father, Claude, in a prison visitation room.

CLAUDE: You shouldn’t come here.

YVETTE: I wanted to.

CLAUDE: Wanting isn’t the same as needing.

YVETTE: I need to see you.

CLAUDE: Why?

YVETTE: Because I keep imagining you as a headline.

CLAUDE: That’s what they do.

YVETTE: They turned you into a cautionary tale and left out the chapters where you were kind.

What does Yvette’s statement most strongly suggest about public narratives versus personal reality?