The Road to Wigan Pier Test | Final Test - Medium

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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. What is left when a slag heap sinks into the ground?
(a) Soggy ground and bamboo.
(b) Dry land and weeds.
(c) A small hill of dirt.
(d) Ugly brown grass and soggy ground.

2. What did Orwell believe every unemployed man should be given if he wanted it?
(a) A patch of land and tools with which to grow his own food.
(b) A patch of land and one hundred pounds.
(c) A patch of land and a cow.
(d) A patch of land and a horse drawn wagon.

3. Who did the work in the house of a married unemployed man?
(a) A woman: the man did not help with any household tasks.
(b) The man helped by maintaining the living and dining rooms.
(c) The man helped with certain chores such as washing dishes.
(d) The couple split the chores in half to get more free time together.

4. What did Orwell think was more important than changes in dynasties or changes of religion?
(a) Changes of diet.
(b) Changes of housing materials.
(c) Changes of the seasons.
(d) Changes of clothing and cloth.

5. What book did Orwell write telling of his experiences in London with the unemployed street people?
(a) Down and Out in London.
(b) Down and Out on the Seine.
(c) Down and Out in Paris and London.
(d) Down and Out in the Gutters of London.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Orwell say was the distinguishing mark of the upper-middle class before the war in England?

2. Why did Orwell reference "Punch" in his discussion of class?

3. Who said "an army marches on its stomach?"

4. What four words did Orwell discuss in detail as the reason for class distinctions?

5. Under the capitalist system, who did Orwell say must live on the edge of starvation so that England can live in comfort?

Short Essay Questions

1. What were the attributes of the Northern snobbishness Orwell writes about?

2. Why did Orwell think Socialism was not on the rise in England? What did he think Socialists were doing to discourage people from participating?

3. Describe the slag heaps found in northern England. What did they look like? What were they eventually used for in Wigan?

4. What was the employment situation in Wigan and Sheffield, the two towns Orwell wrote about?

5. What was a "shabby-genteel" family in Orwell's opinion? What were some of the characteristics of a shabby-genteel family?

6. What were the reasons Orwell cited for Socialism being intrinsically tied to machine industrialization?

7. How did Orwell see the clash between the Socialist idea of the machine state and the working people Socialism wished to bring into the fold?

8. Why did Orwell think the working class people were rarely pure Socialists?

9. What were some of the negative affects of unemployment on any town despite unemployment benefits?

10. What did Orwell do in order to learn more about the working class conditions he had previously not understood? How did he go about trying to be a part of the working class and see the world through their eyes?

(see the answer keys)

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