The Hitchhiker

Why does Adams state facts about himself at the beginning of the play?

• to prove that he is sane

• to plead for help

• to understand what is happening

• to show he is paranoid

Ronald Adams is driving from Brooklyn to.....

• Colorado

• Oklahoma

• California

• Pennsylvania

What does Mrs. Adams warn her son about before the trip?

• falling asleep

• driving fast

• picking up strangers

• all of the above

Where did Ronald Adams FIRST see the hitchhiker?

• on the Pennsylvania turnpike

• on the Brooklyn bridge

• on the Pulaski skyway

• at the railroad crossing

Which excerpt best shows that flashback will be used?

• It’s all taken place since the death of her oldest son, Ronald.

• I’m in an auto camp on Route 66 just west of Gallup, New Mexico.

• Six days ago I left Brooklyn to drive to California..

• I am not mad now. I feel perfectly well, except that I am running a slight temperature.

Read the following excerpts. What do they foreshadow?

​

Promise me you’ll be extra careful. Don’t fall asleep or drive fast or pick up any strangers
on the road.

I was in excellent spirits – drive ahead, even the loneliness seemed like a lark. But I
reckoned without him. 

• an accident

• the appearance of the hitchhiker

• the death of a character

• Adams makes a wrong turn

Use context clues and the root meaning
below to choose the best meaning for the
word junction as used in the sentence.

​

junct – Latin root meaning join

​

I had stopped the car at a sleepy little junction
just across the border into Oklahoma to let a
train pass by when he appeared across the
tracks – he was leaning against a telephone
pole.

• the act of being joined

• the place where railroads meet, or an intersection with a railroad

• a place to stop and rest on long trips

• a train station

Read the sentence below. What word in the sentence has the closest meaning to sinister?

​

I repeat: there was nothing sinister about him.

He was as drab as a mud fence, nor was his
attitude menacing.

• drab

• attitude

• mud

• menacing

Read the excerpt below:

Adams: There was a man there I tell ya! A thin,
gray man with an overnight bag in his hand. I
was trying to run him down.
Girl: Run him down? You mean kill ’im?
Adams: He’s sort of – phantom. I’m trying to
get rid of him – or at least prove he’s real. But
you say you didn’t see him back there? You’re
sure?
Girl: I didn’t see a soul. And as far as that’s
concerned, mister...

​

What is the meaning of the word
phantom as it is used in the excerpt
above?

• a confusing topic

• a figment of the imagination

• a lie

• invisible

Which phrase from the excerpt best supports your answer to #9? 

Adams: There was a man there I tell ya! A thin,
gray man with an overnight bag in his hand. I
was trying to run him down.
Girl: Run him down? You mean kill ’im?
Adams: He’s sort of – phantom. I’m trying to
get rid of him – or at least prove he’s real. But
you say you didn’t see him back there? You’re
sure?
Girl: I didn’t see a soul. And as far as that’s
concerned, mister...

• "or atleast prove he's real."

• "as far as that's concerned, mister.."

• "I'm trying to get rid of him..."

• "You mean kill 'im?"