WorksheetsThe Piano Lesson, Act 1
Total questions: 26
Worksheet time: 13mins
___ is the city in which the play is set.
New York
Pittsburgh
Sunflower
Chicago
The play opens when ...
Sutter falls down his well
Berniece tells Boy Willie she refuses to sell the piano.
Lymon's truck breaks down
Boy Willie knocks on Doaker's door at 5 AM.
In the stage directions, Boy Willie is described as
brash, impulsive, talkative
temperamental, creative, quiet
jealous, rude, dishonest
instinctive, diplomatic, thoughtful
Boy Willie plans to get the money to buy Sutter's land by
playing poker with Doaker and Wining boy
selling the watermelons and taking a part-time job in the building where Avery works
using his savings, selling watermelons, and selling the family piano
talking Doaker into selling his house, selling the watermelons, and selling the family piano
When Berniece sees Sutter's ghost
Everyone thinks she's making the story up
Boy Willie doesn't think she's seen anything
Berniece wants to stay somewhere else
Lymon offers her a glass of water and tries to calm her down
Berniece blames Boy Willie
for Crawley's death
because the law is looking for Lymon
for Maretha's decision to play the guiter
their mother's not playing the piano
Doaker's view of life is heavily colored by
his experiences working on the railroad
Wining Boy's music
Coreen's leaving him and going to New York
his desire to teach Maretha right from wrong
Boy Willie has ___ weeks to come up with the money to buy Sutter's land.
2
4
6
8
The piano was originally given as a gift to
Joel Nolander's wife
Cleotha
Berniece and Boy Willie's great grandmother
Miss Ophelia Sutter
The carvings on the piano were done by
Boy Willie and Berniece's great grandfather
Mama Berniece
Mr. Nolander
Mama Ola
They talk to you where the Yellow Dog crosses the Southern
Doaker and Wining Boy
Mr. Nolander and Mr. Sutter
The Ghosts of the Yellow Dog
The Charles family's ancestors
The person who gave his life for the piano
Boy Charles
Mama Ola
Wining boy
Ed Saunders
The piano was stolen from Sutter on
Christmas Eve
Labor Day
Fourth of July
Thanksgiving Day
Polished the piano "with her tears for seventeen years"
Berniece
Mama Ola
Esther
Coreen
Avery works in a building where he
cleans offices
prepares lunches for businessmen
operates the elevator
serves as a chaplain
Said "She don't need no water. She ain't seen nothing. Go on up there and look."
Boy Willie
Doaker
Wining Boy
Avery
Said "They looked like anybody else except they all had sheep heads and was making noise like sheep make."
Boy Willie
Doaker
Wining Boy
Avery
Said "If I see Sutter's ghost I'll be on the first thing I find that got wheels on it."
Boy Willie
Doaker
Wining Boy
Avery
Said "She need to go out here and let one of these fellows grab a whole handful of whatever she got. She act like it done got precious.
Boy Willie
Doaker
Wining Boy
Avery
Said "I used to thank the Lord. Many a night I sat and looked out over my life. Said, well, I had Cleotha."
Boy Willie
Doaker
Lymon
Wining Boy
Said "I went down there and right there where them two railroads cross each other ... I stood right there on that spot and called out their names. They talk back to you too."
Wining Boy
Doaker
Lymon
Avery
Sang "I am a rambling gambling man."
Boy Willie
Doaker
Wining boy
Lymon
Said "You killed Crawley just as sure as if you pulled the trigger."
Boy Willie
Doaker
Berniece
Avery
Not in the Charles family ...
Berniece
Doaker
Lymon
Wining Boy
Characters who seem to want Boy Willie to leave ...
Avery and Lymon
Doaker and Berniece
Doaker and Wining Boy
Berniece and Maretha
The carvings were originally made on the piano because ...
Mr. Sutter wanted a record of the slaves he sold.
Miss Ophelia missed her slaves.
Paper was not available on the Sutter plantation
Doaker's grandfather felt it important to capture family history.
