The Piano Lesson

by August Wilson

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The Piano Lesson Questions and Answers

Why is Berniece adamant to preserve the piano as a symbol of her family history in The Piano Lesson by August Wilson?

What are three quotations that support the idea that Berniece deserves the piano in The Piano Lesson?

In the play The Piano Lesson, what does the piano mean to each character?

In The Piano Lesson, what does Doaker's continued with the railroad symbolize?

How is the piano a symbol of the Charles' family spirituality in The Piano Lesson by August Wilson?

Why does Wilson title his play "The Piano Lesson"?  What are some of the lessons  learned, who learns them and how are they taught?

What are three quotations that support the idea that Berniece deserves the piano in The Piano Lesson?  

In The Piano Lesson, Berniece wants to keep the piano and her brother Boy Willie wants to sell it. Who is right?

What, specifically, do the carvings on the piano represent?

What is a character analysis of Boy Willie from The Piano Lesson?

In August Wilson's The Piano Lesson, how does the piano represent the family's freedom from oppression in many ways?

Where and when does the first act open in The Piano Lesson?

What lessons does Boy Willie learn in the story?

Examine how the symbol of the piano represents the family's freedom from oppression.

What is the sense of identity felt by Boy Willie and Berniece?

What is the role of one minor character in The Piano Lesson?

In what way does Winning Boy have a tendency to exploit people?

What functions does Maretha have in The Piano Lesson by August Wilson? In what ways is her age important? If you were directing the play, how would you have Maretha behave? How would she be costumed?

In The Piano Lesson, what different view of the past does the piano represent for each of the characters?

Explain how irony is illustrated in August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson.

Describe the climax of the play in relation to the truck's load of watermelon at the start of the play.

In The Piano Lesson by August Wilson, in what ways do different characters' attitudes toward the piano reveal their feelings about the past?

What has Bernice's husband's death to do with their migration to Pittsburgh?

Describe the rising action and climax of the play in relation to the truck's load.

Why did the writer choose the piano instrument and not, for example, the guitar or any other music tool?

Why is it important that the piano is a musical instrument?

If you could write an alternative ending to August Wilson's The Piano Lesson, what would it be?

What is the lesson from The Piano Lesson?

What are three quotations which support the idea that Berniece deserves the piano in The Piano Lesson by August WIlson?

What aspects of Boy Willie's character does the open scene illustrates? What aspects of his character are revealed later? What does the land represent to him?

In The Piano Lesson by August Wilson, how is the South important to the drama?

Discuss the significance of Pittsburgh in the drama.

In August Wilson's The Piano Lesson, what genre is displayed?

What plot functions does Grace perform? In what ways does her presence complicate the play's gender themes?

In The Piano Lesson, how important is the past ownership of the piano?

What was happening in America in the year surrounding the play The Piano Lesson?

How is the piano central to the wrangling of the siblings in August Wilson's The Piano Lesson?

What does the South represent to the different characters? THE PIANO LESSONS BY AUGUST WILSON

In The Piano Lesson, in what ways does Berniece's presence enhance the play's portrayal of African- Americans?

What ideas can I use for a thesis statement on why everyone should read The Piano Lesson by August Wilson?

Describe the racial ownership tension in the play. Where do other characters fit into the opposition and what is Doaker's relationship to the past?

Describe the complications of the tension of "racial ownership." Where do other characters fit into this?

What is the significance of the way the family acquired the piano in The Piano Lesson?