The Glass Menagerie

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Part 1: Scenes1-5

Reading Check

1. Who sent a postcard with the message “Hello—Good-bye!” and no address?

2. How did Amanda entertain her gentlemen callers?

3. Why did Amanda change her mind about attending the DAR meeting?

4. What is a victrola?

5. What does Tom wake up to every morning?

6. What does Tom get from movies that he can’t get from his job?

7. What is the Wingfields’ substitute for a porch?

8. What does Amanda consider worse than being an old maid?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Tom describe the social background of the play?

2. What is the Jewel Box?

3. How did Laura get the nickname Blue Roses?

4. Why does Amanda sell magazine subscriptions?

5. What is Amanda’s reason for returning Tom’s library book?

6. What trick does Tom tell Laura she can do with the magic scarf?

7. What does Tom say about instinct?

8. In what way would Amanda like Tom to emulate his father?

9. What does Amanda say about time?

Paired Resources

Death of a Salesman Film

• A 2-hour film adaptation of the Arthur Miller play starring Dustin Hoffman and John Malkovich
• Death of a Salesman on SuperSummary
• How do the family dynamics in the Loman household compare to those of the Wingfields, and how does the theme of Generational Burdens bridge the two works?

The Purple Rose of Cairo Review

• A review by Roger Ebert of the movie starring Mia Farrow and Jeff Daniels
• Analysis of a film in which a woman who escapes her real life through the movies meets the hero of her favorite movie when he steps out of the screen
• How do the characters in The Purple Rose of Cairo compare to those in The Glass Menagerie?

Part 2: Scenes 6-7

Reading Check

1. What does Jim call Tom?

2. What does Amanda say all pretty girls are?

3. What kind of flowers does Amanda put on the table?

4. When does adventure become available to the masses, according to Tom?

5. Why was Laura always late to chorus class?

6. Who claims to be disappointed but not discouraged?

7. Why does Jim say he has to leave early?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is there a struggle over who answers the door?

2. Why is Tom tired of movies?

3. What does Amanda wear for the dinner with Jim?

4. Why do the lights go out?

5. What does Jim do for Laura “better late than never”?

6. What reason does Laura invent for the unicorn losing its horn?

7. What does Jim say Laura’s problem is, and what does he advise her to do about it?

Paired Resources

The Psychology of Wishing and Hoping

• A brief Psychology Today article on the value of hope
• How do the characteristics of wishing and hoping explained in the article apply to Laura, Tom, and Amanda? What does each hope to gain, and in what ways can those hopes be both beneficial and detrimental

“somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond”

• Poem by E. E. Cummings referenced in The Glass Menagerie
• What are some of the symbols and images in this poem that relate to Laura?

Recommended Next Reads

A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen

• A Doll’s House is a modern tragedy released in 1879 by Norwegian writer Henrik Ibsen.
• Composed of three acts, the play is set in a Norwegian town of the author’s present day and mainly concerns Nora and Torvald Helmer, whose marriage implodes under the weight of Nora’s emotional, social, and political subjugation by Europe’s regressive gender norms.
• The play is well known for exploring the married woman’s bleak plight in a world dominated by men, shedding light on a problem that was underexposed in the late 19th century. The play also stirred outrage from dissidents who viewed its arguments as profane.
• A Doll’s House on SuperSummary

Our Town by Thornton Wilder

• Our Town (1938) is a three-act play written by American playwright Thornton Wilder. Wilder served in both world wars and wrote honestly about life in America.
• Our Town is centered on the fictional town of Grover’s Corners, a town like any other, between 1901 and 1913. It brings to light themes of appreciating life while one has it, the importance of love and family, the cyclical nature of humanity, and Time and Memory.
• Our Town on SuperSummary