Fences

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. How does Troy try to validate himself at work?

A) He and Bono meet after work to complain about the job.

B) He complains Black men do not get jobs as drivers.

C) He holds back some of his paycheck from Ruth.

D) He tries to convince his boss to hire Cory.

2. How is Troy similar to his father?

A) Both men rape women to show dominance.

B) Both men conduct affairs during marriage.

C) Both men seek to control their sons.

D) Both men abandon their families.

3. Why is Troy’s negative stance toward Cory’s dream of college ironic?

A) Troy once dreamed of a college education.

B) Troy wants Cory to keep his talent in the neighborhood.

C) Troy wants Cory to get a job and contribute to the family.

D) Troy ensures Cory will become like Troy.

4. Throughout his life, in what way has Troy been invalidated as a man?

A) As a Black man, he is unable to play baseball or get a good job.

B) As a Black man, he is unable to get a promotion at work.

C) As a Black man, he is unable to purchase furniture or a home.

D) As a Black man, he is unable to protect Gabriel.

5. Even when Troy stands up for himself, how does he undermine his position?

A) He spends his money on alcohol, even though he wants to save.

B) He has an affair with Roberta while still loving Rose.

C) He lets Gabriel move out, but then he resents Gabriel.

D) He becomes a driver, but he doesn’t have a driver’s license.

6. What may be the real reason Troy doesn’t want Cory to play football?

A) Troy doesn’t want Cory to be disappointed like his father.

B) Troy doesn’t want Cory to succeed where Troy failed.

C) Troy doesn’t want Cory to neglect his family responsibilities.

D) Troy doesn’t want Cory to give up a paycheck for a dream.

7. What is the driving force in Troy’s life?

A) Generational legacy

B) His absent father

C) Unfulfilled potential

D) The American Dream

8. Between Acts I and II, what is Troy’s situation with regard to his family?

A) He feels trapped by them but stays after losing them.

B) He plans to trade one family for another with Alberta.

C) He hopes to locate his missing father and reunite with Gabriel.

D) He wants to rid himself of family by abandoning Gabriel.

9. What is Troy’s primal fear?

A) Disrespect from his sons

B) Death without significance

C) Rejection from Rose

D) Judgment by community

10. In what way does Cory’s departure from home mirror Troy’s departure from home as a young man?

A) Both men are sorry to leave home.

B) Both men feel responsibility for siblings.

C) Both men land in jail after failing to find support.

D) Both men come of age by leaving their fathers.

11. Why does Troy count Cory’s trespasses against him as “strikes”?

A) Troy views the father-son relationship as a game.

B) Troy views life as a game stacked against him.

C) Troy views his home as a baseball diamond.

D) Troy views Rose as the umpire of their home.

12. Why is Troy angrier with Cory than he is with Lyons?

A) Cory is the son least like Troy.

B) Cory doesn’t ask for anything.

C) Cory is the son most like Troy.

D) Cory prefers Rose to Troy.

13. Why is Troy smiling as he dies?

A) He knows Death will eventually beat him.

B) He knows Rose and Cory will be better without him.

C) He knows his death will force Lyons to grow up.

D) He knows Rose will continue to care for Raynell.

14. With regard to Troy, how do Rose and Cory differ?

A) Rose is free to live in the present, while Cory is stuck in the past.

B) Rose will abandon Raynell now, while Cory will assume this responsibility.

C) Rose’s life is dominated by Troy, while Cory can still live his own life.

D) Rose’s life loses its meaning, while Cory’s life gains meaning militarily.

15. In addition to Troy’s freedom in death, what does Gabriel’s final trumpet call signal?

A) Raynell will not be tormented by Troy’s disappointment.

B) Cory will continue to live in despair in Troy’s shadow.

C) The other characters will live with Troy’s dark memory.

D) The other characters are free of Troy.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. In what way is the garden Rose plants in the yard symbolic of her new life without Troy?

2. In what way is the Maxson male coming-of-age ritual destructive for both Troy and Cory?