Function of Conflict: Fiction/Drama Practice Test
•15 QuestionsRead the excerpt below from an original one-act drama.
Evening. A cramped apartment kitchen. A stack of unopened envelopes sits beside a chipped mug. MAYA (22) stands at the sink, scrubbing the same spoon. LENA (45), her mother, enters holding a folded letter.
LENA: They called again.
MAYA: (without turning) From the clinic.
LENA: From the college. Financial Aid. They said if we don’t answer by Friday, they’ll—
MAYA: They’ll do what they always do. Close the file. Move on.
LENA: (sets the letter down) You could call them back.
MAYA: You could stop leaving their messages on the counter like they’re prayers.
LENA: Don’t talk like that.
MAYA: Like what? Like I can’t afford to be hopeful?
LENA: Like hope is a luxury.
MAYA: It is.
LENA: (quietly) I signed the loan papers.
MAYA: You said you wouldn’t.
LENA: I said I didn’t want to.
MAYA: That’s not the same thing.
LENA: I did it for you.
MAYA: No. You did it so you could say you did it.
LENA: (stung) You think I want this? You think I want to owe strangers money until I’m seventy?
MAYA: I think you want to be the kind of mother who makes a sacrifice. Even if you don’t ask what I’m sacrificing.
LENA: And what are you sacrificing, Maya?
MAYA: My name on a debt I didn’t choose. Your name on a debt you can’t pay.
LENA: You’d rather stay here and count tips forever?
MAYA: I’d rather choose my own trap.
LENA: (picks up the letter) Then tell me what you’re choosing. Because all I see is you standing still.
In the excerpt, what is the primary function of the conflict over the loan and who gets to choose the “trap”?
Read the excerpt below from an original one-act drama.
Evening. A cramped apartment kitchen. A stack of unopened envelopes sits beside a chipped mug. MAYA (22) stands at the sink, scrubbing the same spoon. LENA (45), her mother, enters holding a folded letter.
LENA: They called again.
MAYA: (without turning) From the clinic.
LENA: From the college. Financial Aid. They said if we don’t answer by Friday, they’ll—
MAYA: They’ll do what they always do. Close the file. Move on.
LENA: (sets the letter down) You could call them back.
MAYA: You could stop leaving their messages on the counter like they’re prayers.
LENA: Don’t talk like that.
MAYA: Like what? Like I can’t afford to be hopeful?
LENA: Like hope is a luxury.
MAYA: It is.
LENA: (quietly) I signed the loan papers.
MAYA: You said you wouldn’t.
LENA: I said I didn’t want to.
MAYA: That’s not the same thing.
LENA: I did it for you.
MAYA: No. You did it so you could say you did it.
LENA: (stung) You think I want this? You think I want to owe strangers money until I’m seventy?
MAYA: I think you want to be the kind of mother who makes a sacrifice. Even if you don’t ask what I’m sacrificing.
LENA: And what are you sacrificing, Maya?
MAYA: My name on a debt I didn’t choose. Your name on a debt you can’t pay.
LENA: You’d rather stay here and count tips forever?
MAYA: I’d rather choose my own trap.
LENA: (picks up the letter) Then tell me what you’re choosing. Because all I see is you standing still.
In the excerpt, what is the primary function of the conflict over the loan and who gets to choose the “trap”?