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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who does Etienne meet on the first day of the job that he likes?

2. What is the new capitalistic trend concerning money?

3. How are the miners presented to the visitors?

4. About what do Etienne and Souvarine talk?

5. Where does Etienne go to rent a room?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Denneulin and what does he want from Léon Grégoire?

2. What happens when Etienne knows he can no longer control the crowd of miners at Voreux?

3. How do the miners get to their jobs?

4. What happens in the mine in November and what was the consequences?

5. What does Deneulin ask of Chaval and what is the result?

6. What does Mrs. Hennebeau do in the second section of the book?

7. What happens to Etienne as he works in the mines, as far as his job is concerned?

8. What do the Montsou miners do when they leave Jean-Bart?

9. How do the women of the settlement feel about Maigrat's death and what do they do after it?

10. What happens at the mine when the Borains arrive to work?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The author uses the environment to underline the symbolic value of Étienne Lantier's move from timid indignation to effective political action. For instance, Lantier and his supporters decide to leave the tavern of the Rasseneurs and move to another meeting place because the former serve "warm beer" and "bad soup."

1. What other situations in the environment to you see reflecting the situations with the miners?

2. How did Etienne's relationships with the miners and the Maheu family reflect his change from outsider to political leader?

Essay Topic 2

There seems to be a huge gap between the rich and poor in this novel.

1. How is this difference shown in the book?

2. Do you see this gap existing in America today? Why or why not?

3. Do you see any morality issue with the gap between the very rich and the very poor?

Use examples to illustrate your answer.

Essay Topic 3

The situation is desperate, with the miners having no food or heat. Zola draws an analogy of lack of coal as a source of collective energy (for the houses), which is correlated with the lack of food, a source of personal energy (for the body).

1. Discuss two other analogies that Zola uses in the miners' situation.

2. Do you think Zola's analogies are meant to be ambivalent to be powerful? Why or why not?

3. Would he have strengthened his position better with more concrete writing?

(see the answer keys)

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