I've gotten these up rather late tonight, so here's the deal. You will need to answer them this week. However, you do not need to have them for tomorrow.

Inherit the Wind Questions

Act One, Scene I

1. How does the opening conversations between Melinda and Howard set up the rest of the play?
2. How does this exchange between Cates and Rachel reveal their different ways of answering life’s big questions: Cates: “It isn’t as simple as that. God or bad, black or white, night or day. Do you know, at the top of the world twilight is six months long?” Rachel: But we don’t live at the top of the world. We live in Hillsboro and when the sun goes down it’s dark. And why do you try to make it different?”
3. What does Rachel want Bert to do? What’s her motivation? What doesn't Bert want to do it? What’s his motivation?
4. How would you describe the atmosphere in town just before and during Brady’s arrival?
5. In the Bible, who is Elijah? How is the character in the play similar?
6. Does Hornbeck sound like the townspeople? Describe his “voice.” How are his lines written differently from the townspeople’s?
7. Describe Brady’s arrival? How do the townspeople feel about him? What role does he play in how they look at the world?
8. What does the song, ”Give me that old time religion” reveal about the town’s attitudes toward tradition?
9. How do the townspeople react to the news that Drummond is going to be Cates’s lawyer? Describe the scene when he is first sighted.

Challenge:

A. What is Henry’s Lizzie?
B. Who are Montgomery and Ward?