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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. What is the captain's wife always doing?

2. What does Doc eat before leaving Monterey?

3. Why do Henri's girlfriends eventually leave him?

4. What does doc find when he wades into the water and parts the mass of algae?

5. How do people treat Doc after he tells his fib?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Steinbeck show that Doc is one with nature?

2. What is the symbolism of the music in Doc's head when he finds the body of the beautiful dead woman in the water?

3. Describe Mary Talbot.

4. What is the irony of the tax troubles Dora experiences?

5. What is the significance of the flagpole sitter at Holman's Department Store?

6. Why does Mack initially reject the captain's offer of whiskey?

7. How does Doc respond to Mack's request to know Doc's birth date?

8. How does Steinbeck show that Cannery Row is an undesirable part of town?

9. How does Mack know that the captain's wife would disapprove of Mack and the boys?

10. Describe Steinbeck's use of humor in the frog-catching scene.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Cannery Row is populated with social outcasts and homeless people. What would become of these same people today? Re-write the characterizations and settings for the main characters. Explain the reasons for your changes.

Essay Topic 2

Steinbeck mentions "the hour of the pearl" several times in the novel. How else could he have described this fleeting time in the mornings? What name would you give to the California sunsets? What is the significance of "the hour of the pearl" in relation to Doc?

Essay Topic 3

Although the residents of Cannery Row live on the fringe of acceptable society, they take care of each other. What is the bond between the residents of Cannery Row that makes them want to help each other even when others won't? Is there a common denominator among the Cannery Row residents that they recognize themselves in each other? Explain some situations in the book where the Cannery Row residents exhibit humanity toward one another.

(see the answer keys)

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