Function of Allusion: Fiction/Drama Practice Test

Read the following excerpt from an original drama. In a small town council chamber, MAYOR HOLT tries to persuade LENA, a volunteer coordinator, to take the blame for a failed festival permit.

MAYOR HOLT: The paper needs a name. They don’t need the whole story.

LENA: The whole story is you didn’t file the form.

MAYOR HOLT: I delegated.

LENA: You forgot.

MAYOR HOLT: Careful. You’re new in this town.

LENA: Then teach me how you do it—how you smile while you shove.

MAYOR HOLT: I’m offering you a chance to be useful.

LENA: Useful like a shield.

MAYOR HOLT: Don’t dramatize.

LENA: You want me to walk out there and say, “I’m sorry,” so you can wash your hands like Pontius Pilate.

MAYOR HOLT: I don’t know what you’re talking about.

LENA: You do. You just like the water.

In context, the function of the bolded allusion is to

Read the following excerpt from an original drama. In a college dorm hallway, roommate DEV tries to convince roommate MARA to attend a party after she receives a rejection email.

DEV: You can’t stay in here with the lights off.

MARA: Watch me.

DEV: Come on. People are going.

MARA: People are always going. That’s their hobby.

DEV: You applied to ten internships. One said no.

MARA: One said no loudly.

DEV: It’s not personal.

MARA: It’s a form letter. It’s personal in the way a stamp is personal.

DEV: Then let’s go out and forget it.

MARA: Forgetting is your superpower.

DEV: And brooding is yours.

MARA: I’m not brooding. I’m listening to the sound of my future closing.

DEV: Dramatic.

MARA: If you want me to dance tonight, you’ll have to play Orpheus and drag me back from the underworld.

DEV: I don’t have a lyre.

MARA: Then stop promising miracles.

In context, the function of the bolded allusion is to