Our Town Exam Review

The______ is the narrator of the play

stage manager

Dr. Gibbs has just delivered twins over in _____ Town.

Polish

The narrator tells us that Joe Crowell will not become a great engineer because the _____ will break out and he will die in France.

war

Rebecca complains that she must go to school dressed like a sick _____

turkey

George's sister loves _____ better than anything else in the world

money

The state manager asks _____ to provide some historical details about Grover's corners

Professor Williard

Mr. Webb says that _____ percent of the young people graduating from high school settle in Grover's Corners

90 %

George tells his father that he wants to be a _____ after school is over

farmer

The worst scandal in town is that Simon Stimson, the organist and choir director, gets

drunk

Rebecca says that Jane Crofut got a letter from her minister with an address including Mind of

God

The twelve chairs on the stage represent

Graves

According to the state manager, the dead are waiting for the _____ part of them to come out

eternal

Joe Stoddard says that Simon Stimson _____ himself in the attic

hanged

Emily dies in

child birth

Emily chooses to relive one day in her life, her

twelfth birthday

Emily says she can't bear it when she realizes how young and _____ her parents were

beautiful

Emily asks her mother to look at her as if she really _____ her for one minute.

saw

Wally dies on a camping trip when his _____ bursts

appendix

Emily says that the earth is too _____ for anybody to realize

wonderful

Mrs. Gibbs tells Emily that the living do not _____

understand

Paper delivery boy in Act II, Joe Crowell's young brother

Si Crowell

funeral attendee, Emily's cousin

Sam Craig

undertaker of Grover's Corners

Joe Stoddard

Wife of Dr. Gibbs, mother of George and Rebecca

Mrs. Julia Gibbs

Wife of Mr. Webb, mother of Wally and Emily

Mrs. Myrtle Webb

Eldest child of Mr. and Mrs. Gibbs, Rebecca's brother

George Gibbs

Also plays Mrs. Forrest, Mr. Morgan and the Minister

Stage Manager

Choir director and organist of the Congregational Church

Simon Stimson

Member of community, friend of Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb

Mrs. Louanne Soames

Grover's Corners keeper of the peace

Constable Warren

Younger child of Mr. and Mrs. Gibbs, George's sister

Rebecca Gibbs

Younger child of Mr. and Mrs. Webb, Emily's brother

Wally Webb

Eldest child of Mr. and Mrs. Webb, Wally's sister

Emily Webb

Geology professor from the state university

Professor Willard

Editor of the Grover's Corners Sentinel, husband of Mrs. Webb, father of Wally and Emily

Mr. Charles Webb

Grover's Corners physician, father of George and Rebecca

Dr. Frank Gibbs

Paper delivery boy

Joe Crowell Jr.

Milkman for Grover's Corners

Howie Newsome

T/F: The play begins at daybreak

True

T/F: Our Town has a very elaborate set

False- propless stage

T/F: George Gibbs' main interest in school was football

False- baseball

T/F: Most of the people of Grovers' Corners are very content with small-town life

True

T/F: Editor Webb narrates the action of the play and presents the author's philosophy to the audience

False- stage manager

T/F: George and Emily were childhood sweethearts

True

T/F: The theme of Our town is to find the importance of the ordinary

True

T/F: The first act ends with the discussion of a letter that Rebecca had received from her minister

True

T/F: The second act deals with love and marriage

True

T/F: Mrs. Soames was Mrs. Webb's next-door neighbor

False-Mrs. Gibbs

T/F: Mr. Webb gave George a great deal of helpful advice about married life

False

T/F: The stage manager assumes the role of the minister at George and Emily's wedding

True

T/F: George intends to farm for a living

True

T/F: The stage manager believes that marriage has religious significance

True

T/F: Ten years elapse between Act I and Act II

False- three

T/F: The dead remain very interested in the affairs of the living

False- farther & farther away

T/F: Emily asks to relive her twelfth birthday

True

T/F: Emily's return is painful as she sees all that she failed to notice before

True

T/F: George died before Emily did

False- Emily died before George did

T/F: Even Emily's death represents a continuation of the life cycle

True

The first act of the play was called the Daily Life; the second act is called

Love and Marriage

Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb raise their children and neither of them has

a nervous breakdown

George Gibbs is going to give up _____ and get married

baseball

Dr. Gibbs says that the relationship between a father and a son is

awkward

Dr. Gibbs says that when he married, he worried about having enough

conversation

Mr. Webb's father told him to show his wife that he was the boss, advice which Mr. Webb has

ignored

Before their engagement Emily tells George that he has changed, that he has become

conceited

Emily says that she expects a man to be _____ like her father and George's father

perfect

George gets nervous before the wedding and tells his mother that he only wants to

"be a fella"

Emily gets nervous before the wedding and tells her father she wants to

keep house for him

In what year does the play's opening scene take place?

1901

Grover's Corners, New Hampshire, is a(n)

conservative and relatively isolated small town

The town is presented to the audience

nostalgically

The title of the play implies that

a town such as Grover's Corners is part of the common heritage of Americans

The play's title implies that its themes and characters

are universal

The Gibbs and Webb families may best be described as

ordinary and relatively happy

By presenting the wedding of Emily and George before showing their courtship, Wilder implies that

their marriage is inevitable

Before their marriage Emily and George both fear that they

are growing up too fast

The deceased Emily's feelings as she revisits a day in her life may best be described as

painful

During her revisit to life, what does Emily realize about human experience?

People fail to appreciate one another and the joys of everyday life

In what way does the scene of Emily's return affect the audience?

It is deeply moving

What theme about the purpose of nature does the Stage Manager express during George and Emily's wedding scene?

Nature is progressing toward perfection

The Stage Manager plays the role of

chorus

The Stage Manager's relationship with the audience may best be described as

informal and confiding

The Stage Manager views the deaths of the characters with

a matter-of-fact attitude

What does the Stage Manager's view suggest about life and death?

Though individuals die, life goes on

In discussing the 'star" in his final speech, the Stage Manager expresses a view of humanity that is

optimistic

What is the implied answer to the Stage Manager's question, "And what's left when your memory's gone, and your identity, Mrs. Smith?"

your soul

What aspect of the inhabitants of Grover's Corners is stressed by the use of so little scenery?

simplicity and universality

What effect does the lack of scenery have on the audience?

It forces the members of the audience to use their imagination