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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 words does the narrator hear in the meadow in Chapter 9?
(a) "Roses of the Unborn."
(b) "Roses of the Dead."
(c) "Roses of Yesterday."
(d) "Roses of the Forgotten."

2. What does the narrator say he spends nights thinking about the usefulness of in Chapter 7?
(a) A wire scourer.
(b) A rope.
(c) A pillow.
(d) A thermos.

3. What are the black things the narrator sees in the sand in Chapter 3?
(a) Turtles.
(b) Mule dung.
(c) Snakes.
(d) Rocks.

4. How old does the narrator say he is in the beginning of the book?
(a) 32.
(b) Almost 50.
(c) Almost 40.
(d) 29.

5. In the forward to the book, to what writer does Kerouac compare his works?
(a) Proust.
(b) Fitzgerald.
(c) Poe.
(d) Rimbaud.

Short Answer Questions

1. What kind of cat did the narrator have?

2. What does the narrator see on his porch from the mailbox which makes him happy in Chapter 9?

3. What does the narrator say it's called when he rearranges the rock in the stream in Chapter 6?

4. To whom did the narrator say, "Allow me to stay here, I only want peace"?

5. Which author does the narrator say wrote the inanities of the sea because he wasn't going to do it when he's dead?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what ways does the narrator reflect upon the history of Big Sur in Chapter 7?

2. What is the purpose of Jack's and Arthur Ma's conversation in Chapter 19?

3. Why is the cabin as isolated as it is? What activity takes Jack an entire day in Chapter 6?

4. What is the description of the boarding house where his friends live in Chapter 12?

5. What quotes of Emerson does Kerouac use in Chapter 7? What do these propel the narrator to do?

6. What is Jack's initial interaction with the animals around the cabin like in Chapter 18?

7. Describe the character of Arthur Ma.

8. Who does Jack quote in Chapter 10 as he leaves the cabin? What does he say?

9. What is Jack's reaction to Cody's disappointment to see him drinking in Chapter 13?

10. How does the narrator feel about himself in the end of Chapter 1?

(see the answer keys)

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