"The Hitchhiker"

1. What is the main purpose of the music in note in these lines from the opening of the radio play?

Adams. …This may be the last thing I ever tell on earth…the last night I ever see the stars…(music in)

Adams. Six days ago I left Brooklyn, to drive to California…

• To create a sense of fear

• To distract the listener from Adams’ problem

• To signal a transition from the present to the past

• To allow the actor to prepare for the next scene

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What does Adams come to believe while he is stuck on the train tracks?

• He is merely imagining the hitchhiker.

• The hitchhiker is leading him to death.

• The hitchhiker is following him.

• His mother is gravely ill and needs his help.

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Read Adams’ lines 198-200.

Adams (as though sweating blood). No. Not today. The other way. Going to New York. Sorry...sorry...

What does the stage direction help the reader understand?

• Adams is going the other direction and cannot take the hitchhiker with him.

• Adams feels awkward about taking someone with him.

• Adams is tricking the hitchhiker into believing he’s going to New York.

• Adams is panicky at the thought of the hitchhiker getting into his car.

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Which statement best expresses the resolution of the play?

• Ronald Adams dies in a car crash.

• Ronald Adams realizes that he has more to worry about than the hitchhiker.

• The hitchhiker finally disappears.

• Ronald Adams mother is sent to the hospital.

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Choose the BEST summary for the play.

• Ronald Adams wants to safely travel from NY to California, but he is haunted by a hitchhiker who won’t

  leave him alone. Adams attempts to rid himself of the hitchhiker, but has no luck. In an attempt to pull himself together, Adams calls his mother, and discovers that she has been hospitalized ever since her son, Ronald Adams, was killed in a car crash. Adams is left wondering who he really is.

• A hitchhiker will not leave Ronald Adams alone as he travels by car. Adams tries to rid himself of the hitchhiker, but has no luck. He tries phoning his mother to try and pull himself together and can’t get a hold of her.

• Ronald Adams’ mother wants her son to travel safely to California, and is worried that he will not make it by car. Ronald assures her that it won’t be a problem and proceeds on his way. Unfortunately, he is killed in a car accident shortly after he begins his journey. His mother never recovers afterward.

• Ronald Adams is traveling from California to New York to work there for three months on business. Despite his mother’s worries, he begins his journey, almost getting into an accident at the very beginning. Along the way, Adams is haunted by a hitchhiker who won’t leave him alone. The hitchhiker seems to be at every turn and in every location that Adams is in. After trying to run the hitchhiker over, Adams pulls over to consult his mother. It’s at this point that Adams learns the truth about who the hitchhiker really is.

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The playwright included lines 219 - 260 (pg 96 - 97) in order to--

• Demonstrate that the hitchhiker isn’t real.

• Illustrate how crazy Ronald Adams really is.

• Depict the concern that gas station owners felt about their safety at night.

• Convey that Adams hasn’t really slept.

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Ronald Adams describes the hitchhiker in a way that reveals the hitchhiker’s--

• menacing appearance

• ordinary appearance

• apprehensive state of being

• fearful goal

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Which line from the story best demonstrates the moment when Adams realizes that he needs help?

• I suppose not. What about hitchhikers (Fletcher 95).

• I had the feeling that if only I could speak to someone familiar, someone that I loved, I could pull myself together (Fletcher 100).

• No-No. Don’t shut the door (Fletcher 96).

• I knew that when I saw him next, I would run him down… (Fletcher 97).

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Because the story is written from a first person point of view, the reader--

• is not sure how Ronald Adams really feels.

• is clear about who (or what) the hitchhiker really is.

• feels unsure of what caused Adams’ mother to go to the hospital.

• feels the suspense of the unknown.

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Read lines 283 - 286.

Adams (very tense). It was a perfectly airless, dry day. The red clay of Oklahoma was baking under the south-western sun. Yet there were spots of fresh rain on his shoulders. I can’t stand that.

The sensory language helps the reader understand that--

• the look of the hitchhiker is abnormal

• Ronald Adams has lost touch with reality

• the heat has caused Adams to see the hitchhiker, which is just a mirage

• Adams is very strained

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