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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The character called Mitchell in “Life in the Iron Mills” is said to be an amateur what?
(a) Gymnast
(b) Opera singer
(c) Hypnotist
(d) Comedian

2. How does the narrator describe Hugh Wolfe’s face in “Life in the Iron Mills”?
(a) A haggard face with slyness like a snake
(b) A round and glowing face
(c) A meek, woman’s face
(d) A sly and jovial young man’s face

3. Who wrote “A Biographical Interpretation” of Rebecca Harding Davis’s “Life in the Iron Mills”?
(a) Clare Clifton
(b) Deborah Hedwall
(c) Tillie Olsen
(d) Anne Bogart

4. The narrator in “Life in the Iron Mills” describes Hugh Wolfe as “no favorite in the mill; he had the taint of” what on him?
(a) School-learning
(b) Politics and corruption
(c) Secrecy and politeness
(d) Old money

5. What feeder at the mill does Hugh look down on at the marketplace from his cell in “Life in the Iron Mills”?
(a) Mr. Clarke
(b) Mr. Peters
(c) Pete Small
(d) Neff Sanders

Short Answer Questions

1. When was Rebecca Harding Davis’s last essay, “The Disease of Money-Getting,” published?

2. Who is the town physician who comes with the visiting men to the mill in “Life in the Iron Mills”?

3. How does the narrator describe the weather in the opening of “Life in the Iron Mills”?

4. Dr. May says in “Life in the Iron Mills,” “That is true philosophy. Drift with the stream, because you cannot” what?

5. The mill where Hugh works in “Life in the Iron Mills” is described as being by the river and how far below the city-limits?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author of “A Biographical Interpretation” describe Rebecca Harding Davis’s early years of marriage?

2. How would you describe the setting of “Life in the Iron Mills”? What tone is established through the story’s setting?

3. What do the visitors at the mill tell Hugh Wolfe regarding his future as an artist in “Life in the Iron Mills”?

4. When did Rebecca Harding Davis write “Life in the Iron Mills”? Who published it?

5. How does the setting of “Life in the Iron Mills” relate metaphorically to the story’s main characters?

6. How is the plot of “Life in the Iron Mills” structured? Are there subplots in the story?

7. How does the narrator describe Hugh’s interaction with Deborah when she brings him dinner at the mill in “Life in the Iron Mills”?

8. Who did Rebecca Harding Davis meet on her first trip North, according to the author of “A Biographical Interpretation”?

9. What legacy did Rebecca Harding Davis leave behind, according to the author of “A Biographical Interpretation”?

10. What exchange takes place between Deborah and the Quaker woman at the jail in “Life in the Iron Mills”?

(see the answer keys)

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