Master Harold Test - Guided Reading Questions

Athol Fugard

author

1950, Port Elizabeth in southeast coast of South Africa

the play takes place in the year ____ and is set in ___

hally, sam, willie

the three main characters are:

set in a run-down tea room with heavy rain outside

describe the opening scene

hilda is his girlfriend and his dancing partener

what is willie’s relationship to hilda

hilda cannot dance well and does not come to practice

what is the conflict between willie and hilda

poorly; willie hits hilda

how does willie treat hilda

he doesn’t know if hilda’s baby is his own (thinks she cheated on him)

why do you think willie treats hilda in that way

gets the paddle (beat up)

how does hally get punished for drawing a picture of his teacher

you got beat up (like getting the paddle) in jail

what does share sam about a similar experience to when hally got punished fro a drawing a picture of his teacher

charles darwin, leo nikoldevion tolstoy,

list the men of magnitude that hally chooses

abraham lincoln, shakespeare, jesus, alexander fleming

list the men of magnitude that sam chooses

fleming

who are the men of magnitude the sam and hally agree upon

juxtaposition of science vs god; few go to the theology section so he wanted to prevent ppl from taking it; fugard is not a religious man

why do you think hally hides the drawin book in the theology section? what does this reflect about fugard?

5 years

for how long has hally been educating sam

joe louis, max schleming, fred astaire, ginger rogers, rita hayworth

which famous americans had a profound effect on these characters at this time period

when sam made a kite and they flew it together

what is hally’s most favorite memory between him and sam

tomato-box wood, brown paper, flour, water, mother’s old stockings, bits of strings

what was the kite made out of?

thought that him and sam would make fools out of themselves attempting to fly the kite

what was hally embarrassed about

it lost its soul

what does hally say when the kite dies down to the ground

two score and a five (45)

how old is sam

the kite flyers

what does hally suggest would be a good subject for a short story

a twist in the ending

what is missing from the story hally tells

dad is coming home from hospital, dad is a cripple, hally doesn’t want his dad to return

what do we find out from hally’s first phone call with his mother

no because he is taking out his anger against his dad on willie

is hally justified in lashing out at willie and hitting him with ruler

hally defines as giving of meaning to matter; sam adds beautiful and brings happiness; sam considers ballroom dancing as art

how does hallly define art? what quality does sam add? what does sam consider art?

wants to write about it for his essay

why is hally suddenly intersted in learning about the details of ballroom dancing

ballroom dancing is like being in a dream about a world where accidents dont happen; if we dont know we bump into eachother

what does sam compare ballroom dancing to? what happens when we don’t know what we are doing?

ghandi and the pope

who are two real people who try to teach people to get the steps right?

a dancing school for politicans

what does hally compare the united nations to

dad is coming home, he steals $ for alcohol, crippled (hally emphasizes his chamber pot), he fights with the mom

what 4 things do we learn about hally’s dad in the second phone conversation

becomes anrgy and takes his anger out on sam

how does hally react to the second phone conversation

describes crippled people dancing like broken spiders; compares the trophy to a chamber pot full of urine

how does hally parody the ballroom dancing championship

says he should not talk about his father like that and be more respectful

how does sam scold hally for his parody of the ballroom dancing championship

master harold

what does hally threaten to make sam call him

if you make me say it once, ill never call you anything again

how does sam react to hally threatening to make sam call him master harold

***africans*** ass is not fair

what kind of joke does hally share with sam

sam pulls his own pants down (moons hally)

what is sam’s reaction to hally’s joke

sam is offended, hurt, and feels disrespected; he is hurting himself more

why does sam react that way to hally’s joke? whom is he hurting more, himself or hally?

hally spits in sam’s face

what is hally’s immediate reaction to sam’s mooning

hally’s dad

whom does sam say hally’s spit was really intended for

hally asked for sam’s help to fetch his drunk dad on the hotel floor

what event precipiated sam making that kite for hally

hally loves him but is ashamed of him

how does hally really feel about his dad

sam wanted to give hally something to be proud of

why did sam really make that kite for hally

asks to try to fly another kite

what mature gesture does sam make to hally at the end

it was a whites only bench but hally was too naive to notice but if not careful he will be sitting there for a long time by himself with no kite; but he doesn’t have to sit at the bench…he has the ability to choose to walk away from it at any time

what does sam say about the signifance of the bench