The Human Experience — Test Answers

Read the excerpt from act 1 of A Doll's House . Helmer: Nora! [Goes up to her and takes her playfully by the ear.] The same little featherhead! Suppose, now, that I borrowed fifty pounds today, and you spent it all in the Christmas week, and then on New Year's Eve a slate fell on my head and killed me, and— Nora: [putting her hands over his mouth]. Oh! don't say such horrid things. Helmer: Still, suppose that happened, —what then? Nora: If that were to happen, I don't suppose I should care whether I owed money or not. Helmer: Yes, but what about the people who had lent it? Nora: They? Who would bother about them? I should not know who they were. Helmer: That is like a woman! But seriously, Nora, you know what I think about that. No debt, no borrowing. There can be no freedom or beauty about a home life that depends on borrowing and debt. We two have kept bravely on the straight road so far, and we will go on the same way for the short time longer that there need be any struggle. Nora: [moving towards the stove]. As you please, Torvald. How does the interaction between Helmer and Nora advance the plot?

Read the passage from A Doll’s House . Helmer: [calls out from his room]. Is that my little lark twittering out there? Nora: [busy opening some of the parcels]. Yes, it is! Helmer: Is it my little squirrel bustling about? Nora: Yes! Helmer: When did my squirrel come home? Nora: Just now. [Puts the bag of macaroons into her pocket and wipes her mouth.] Come in here, Torvald, and see what I have bought. Helmer: Don't disturb me. [A little later, he opens the door and looks into the room, pen in hand.] Bought, did you say? All these things? Has my little spendthrift been wasting money again? Nora: Yes but, Torvald, this year we really can let ourselves go a little. This is the first Christmas that we have not needed to economize. How do the stage directions in brackets affect the meaning of the text?

Read the excerpt from act 3 of A Doll’s House. Nora: Alas, Torvald, you are not the man to educate me into being a proper wife for you. Helmer: And you can say that! Nora: And I—how am I fitted to bring up the children? Helmer: Nora! Nora: Didn't you say so yourself a little while ago—that you dare not trust me to bring them up? Helmer: In a moment of anger! Why do you pay any heed to that? Nora: Indeed, you were perfectly right. I am not fit for the task. There is another task I must undertake first. I must try and educate myself—you are not the man to help me in that. I must do that for myself. And that is why I am going to leave you now. Helmer [springing up] : What do you say? Nora: I must stand quite alone, if I am to understand myself and everything about me. It is for that reason that I cannot remain with you any longer. What evidence from the text best supports the theme that it is important to have independence?

Read the excerpt from act 3 of A Doll’s House. Nora: Maybe. But you neither think nor talk like the man I could bind myself to. As soon as your fear was over—and it was not fear for what threatened me, but for what might happen to you—when the whole thing was past, as far as you were concerned it was exactly as if nothing at all had happened. Exactly as before, I was your little skylark, your doll, which you would in future treat with doubly gentle care, because it was so brittle and fragile. [Getting up.] Torvald—it was then it dawned upon me that for eight years I had been living here with a strange man, and had borne him three children—. Oh, I can't bear to think of it! I could tear myself into little bits! How does the passage demonstrate a view that was commonly held during the 1800s?

Read the excerpt from act 3 of A Doll’s House. Helmer: You have no idea what a true man's heart is like, Nora. There is something so indescribably sweet and satisfying, to a man, in the knowledge that he has forgiven his wife—forgiven her freely, and with all his heart. It seems as if that had made her, as it were, doubly his own; he has given her a new life, so to speak; and she has in a way become both wife and child to him. So you shall be for me after this, my little scared, helpless darling. Have no anxiety about anything, Nora; only be frank and open with me, and I will serve as will and conscience both to you—. What is this? Not gone to bed? Have you changed your things? Nora [in everyday dress] : Yes, Torvald, I have changed my things now. Which views from the late 1800s does this passage best support? Choose two correct answers.

Which lines from "Sonnet in Primary Colors” by Rita Dove provide an example of a rhyme?

Read the poem "Sonnet in Primary Colors” by Rita Dove. This is for the woman with one black wing perched over her eyes: lovely Frida, erect among parrots, in the stern petticoats of the peasant, who painted herself a present— wildflowers entwining the plaster corset her spine resides in, that flaming pillar— this priestess in the romance of mirrors. Each night she lay down in pain and rose to the celluloid butterflies of her Beloved Dead, Lenin and Marx and Stalin arrayed at the footstead. And rose to her easel, the hundred dogs panting like children along the graveled walks of the garden, Diego’s love a skull in the circular window of the thumbprint searing her immutable brow. What structural element is apparent in this poem?

Read the line from Rita Dove’s poem "Sonnet in Primary Colors,” then study Frida Kahlo’s painting Self-Portrait with Monkey and Parrot . the thumbprint searing her immutable brow. Expand Image How does this line relate to the artwork?

Read the passage from A Doll’s House . Nora: But it was absolutely necessary that he should not know! My goodness, can't you understand that? It was necessary he should have no idea what a dangerous condition he was in. It was to me that the doctors came and said that his life was in danger, and that the only thing to save him was to live in the south. Do you suppose I didn't try, first of all, to get what I wanted as if it were for myself? I told him how much I should love to travel abroad like other young wives; I tried tears and entreaties with him; I told him that he ought to remember the condition I was in, and that he ought to be kind and indulgent to me; I even hinted that he might raise a loan. That nearly made him angry, Christine. He said I was thoughtless, and that it was his duty as my husband not to indulge me in my whims and caprices—as I believe he called them. Very well, I thought, you must be saved—and that was how I came to devise a way out of the difficulty— Mrs. Linde: And did your husband never get to know from your father that the money had not come from him? Nora: No, never. Papa died just at that time. I had meant to let him into the secret and beg him never to reveal it. But he was so ill then—alas, there never was any need to tell him. Mrs. Linde: And since then have you never told your secret to your husband? Nora: Good Heavens, no! How could you think so? A man who has such strong opinions about these things! And besides, how painful and humiliating it would be for Torvald, with his manly independence, to know that he owed me anything! It would upset our mutual relations altogether; our beautiful happy home would no longer be what it is now. Which evidence supports the inference that Nora is afraid of losing her relationship with her husband?

Read the excerpt from act 1 of A Doll’s House. Mrs. Linde: Yes, but your father gave you the necessary funds. Nora: [smiling] Yes, that is what Torvald and all the others think, but— Mrs. Linde: But— Nora: Papa didn't give us a shilling. It was I who procured the money. Mrs. Linde: You? All that large sum? Nora: Two hundred and fifty pounds. What do you think of that? Mrs. Linde: But, Nora, how could you possibly do it? Did you win a prize in the Lottery? Nora: [contemptuously] In the Lottery? There would have been no credit in that. Mrs. Linde: But where did you get it from, then? Nora: [humming and smiling with an air of mystery]. Hm, hm! Aha! Mrs. Linde: Because you couldn't have borrowed it. Nora: Couldn't I? Why not? Mrs. Linde: No, a wife cannot borrow without her husband's consent. Nora: [tossing her head] Oh, if it is a wife who has any head for business—a wife who has the wit to be a little bit clever— How does this excerpt best develop the theme that society places limits on the roles of women?

Read the excerpt from act 3 of A Doll’s House. Nora: In all these eight years—longer than that—from the very beginning of our acquaintance, we have never exchanged a word on any serious subject. Helmer: Was it likely that I would be continually and forever telling you about worries that you could not help me to bear? Nora: I am not speaking about business matters. I say that we have never sat down in earnest together to try and get at the bottom of anything. Helmer: But, dearest Nora, would it have been any good to you? Nora: That is just it; you have never understood me. I have been greatly wronged, Torvald—first by papa and then by you. How does the conflict in the text best connect to the views of society in the late 1800s?

Read the excerpt from act 3 of A Doll's House . Helmer: How unreasonable and how ungrateful you are, Nora! Have you not been happy here? Nora: No, I have never been happy. I thought I was, but it has never really been so. Helmer: Not—not happy! Nora: No, only merry. And you have always been so kind to me. But our home has been nothing but a playroom. I have been your doll-wife, just as at home I was papa's doll-child; and here the children have been my dolls. I thought it great fun when you played with me, just as they thought it great fun when I played with them. That is what our marriage has been, Torvald. What prediction does the text best support?

What are the characteristics of fixed poetry? Choose three correct answers.

Read the excerpt from act 2 of A Doll's House. Nora: [putting her arms round her neck] Dear old Anne, you were a good mother to me when I was little. Nurse: Little Nora, poor dear, had no other mother but me. Nora: And if my little ones had no other mother, I am sure you would—What nonsense I am talking! [Opens the box.] Go in to them. Now I must—. You will see tomorrow how charming I shall look. How does Ibsen use dramatic irony to create the suspense in this passage?

Read the excerpt from act 2 of A Doll's House. Nora: You must not think of anything but me, either today or tomorrow; you mustn't open a single letter—not even open the letter-box— Helmer: Ah, you are still afraid of that fellow— Nora: Yes, indeed I am. Helmer: Nora, I can tell from your looks that there is a letter from him lying there. Nora: I don't know; I think there is; but you must not read anything of that kind now. Nothing horrid must come between us until this is all over. Rank: [whispers to HELMER] You mustn't contradict her. Helmer: [taking her in his arms] The child shall have her way. But tomorrow night, after you have danced— Nora: Then you will be free. [The MAID appears in the doorway to the right.] Maid: Dinner is served, ma'am. Nora: We will have champagne, Helen. Maid: Very good, ma'am. [Exit.] Helmer: Hullo!—are we going to have a banquet? Nora: Yes, a champagne banquet until the small hours. [Calls out.] And a few macaroons, Helen—lots, just for once! Helmer: Come, come, don't be so wild and nervous. Be my own little skylark, as you used. Nora: Yes, dear, I will. But go in now and you too, Doctor Rank. Christine, you must help me to do up my hair. Rank: [whispers to HELMER as they go out] I suppose there is nothing—she is not expecting anything? Helmer: Far from it, my dear fellow; it is simply nothing more than this childish nervousness I was telling you of. [They go into the right-hand room.] Nora: Well? Mrs. Linde: Gone out of town. Nora: I could tell from your face. Mrs. Linde: He is coming home tomorrow evening. I wrote a note for him. Nora: You should have let it alone; you must prevent nothing. After all, it is splendid to be waiting for a wonderful thing to happen. Mrs. Linde: What is it that you are waiting for? Nora: Oh, you wouldn't understand. Go in to them, I will come in a moment. [MRS. LINDE goes into the dining-room. NORA stands still for a little while, as if to compose herself. Then she looks at her watch.] Five o'clock. Seven hours until midnight; and then four-and-twenty hours until the next midnight. Then the Tarantella will be over. Twenty-four and seven? Thirty-one hours to live. Helmer: [from the doorway on the right] Where's my little skylark? Nora: [going to him with her arms outstretched] Here she is! What evidence from the text supports the prediction that Helmer will learn the contents of the letter? Choose three correct answers.

Read the excerpt from act 2 of A Doll's House . Nora: How should you understand it? A wonderful thing is going to happen! Mrs. Linde: A wonderful thing? Nora: Yes, a wonderful thing! But it is so terrible, Christine; it mustn't happen, not for all the world. Mrs. Linde: I will go at once and see Krogstad. Nora: Don't go to him; he will do you some harm. Mrs. Linde: There was a time when he would gladly do anything for my sake. Nora: He? Mrs. Linde: Where does he live? What evidence from the text supports the prediction that Mrs. Linde will get back together with Krogstad?

Read the excerpt from act 2 of A Doll's House . Nora: [putting her arms round her neck] Dear old Anne, you were a good mother to me when I was little. Nurse: Little Nora, poor dear, had no other mother but me. Nora: And if my little ones had no other mother, I am sure you would—What nonsense I am talking! [Opens the box.] Go in to them. Now I must—. You will see tomorrow how charming I shall look. Nurse: I am sure there will be no one at the ball so charming as you, ma'am. [Goes into the room on the left.] Nora: [begins to unpack the box, but soon pushes it away from her]. If only I dared go out. If only no one would come. If only I could be sure nothing would happen here in the meantime. Stuff and nonsense! No one will come. Only I mustn't think about it. I will brush my muff. What lovely, lovely gloves! Out of my thoughts, out of my thoughts! One, two, three, four, five, six— [Screams.] Ah! there is someone coming—. [Makes a movement towards the door, but stands irresolute.] What prediction does this excerpt best support?

Read the passage from A Doll’s House. Nora: Good gracious, can't you understand? There was no old gentleman at all; it was only something that I used to sit here and imagine, when I couldn't think of any way of procuring money. But it's all the same now; the tiresome old person can stay where he is, as far as I am concerned; I don't care about him or his will either, for I am free from care now. [Jumps up.] My goodness, it's delightful to think of, Christine! Free from care! To be able to be free from care, quite free from care; to be able to play and romp with the children; to be able to keep the house beautifully and have everything just as Torvald likes it! And, think of it, soon the spring will come and the big blue sky! Perhaps we shall be able to take a little trip—perhaps I shall see the sea again! Oh, it's a wonderful thing to be alive and be happy. [A bell is heard in the hall.] How does the author use Nora to explore a social issue?

Read the passage from A Doll’s House . Helmer: Because such an atmosphere of lies infects and poisons the whole life of a home. Each breath the children take in such a house is full of the germs of evil. Nora: [coming nearer him] Are you sure of that? Helmer: My dear, I have often seen it in the course of my life as a lawyer. Almost everyone who has gone to the bad early in life has had a deceitful mother. Nora: Why do you only say—mother? Helmer: It seems most commonly to be the mother's influence, though naturally a bad father's would have the same result. Every lawyer is familiar with the fact. This Krogstad, now, has been persistently poisoning his own children with lies and dissimulation; that is why I say he has lost all moral character. [Holds out his hands to her.] That is why my sweet little Nora must promise me not to plead his cause. Give me your hand on it. Come, come, what is this? Give me your hand. There now, that's settled. I assure you it would be quite impossible for me to work with him; I literally feel physically ill when I am in the company of such people. How does the author use the character of Helmer to develop the idea of gender inequality?

Read the passage from A Doll’s House. Helmer: That is like a woman! But seriously, Nora, you know what I think about that. No debt, no borrowing. There can be no freedom or beauty about a home life that depends on borrowing and debt. We two have kept bravely on the straight road so far, and we will go on the same way for the short time longer that there need be any struggle. Nora: [moving towards the stove]. As you please, Torvald. Helmer: [following her]. Come, come, my little skylark must not droop her wings. What is this! Is my little squirrel out of temper? [Taking out his purse.] Nora, what do you think I have got here? Nora: [turning around quickly]. Money! Helmer: There you are. [Gives her some money.] Do you think I don't know what a lot is wanted for housekeeping at Christmas-time? Nora: [counting]. Ten shillings—a pound—two pounds! Thank you, thank you, Torvald; that will keep me going for a long time. Helmer: Indeed it must. How does the author use the character of Torvald Helmer to explore a social issue?