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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 goes with Chaval when he leaves the Voreux?

2. Why did the Grégoires refuse to help the miners?

3. What happens to Jeanlin in the accident in November in the mine?

4. Who is Zacharie?

5. Who is the overman who hires Étienne Lantier?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what type of situation does Bonnemort live?

2. How do the Grégoires repond to La Maheude's request for help?

3. What happens to Catherine at the Jean-Bart mine?

4. Describe how Germinal starts out.

5. What happens at the Hennebeaus' house when they are hosting a party?

6. What do the miners do once the visitors leave?

7. Why is it almost impossible by February for the miners to continue the strike?

8. On pay day in October what angers the miners and what do they do about it?

9. What does the company tell the miners about the mine at Voreux in February?

10. What is the social scene like in the village?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The army is now occupying Montsou, which means that the miners are powerless, a situation which fuels even more ambivalent anger.

1. How do you think powerlessness engenders anger?

2. What are alternatives to anger to deal with powerlessness?

3. Do you believe the anger seen in some civil rights groups in the 1960s in America stemmed from feeling powerless? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Léon Grégoire and his cousin, Deneulin have different beliefs about money, how to use it and how to make it.

1. What do you see as the difference between how Léon Grégoire views money versus Deneulin? Use examples from the text to support your opinion.

2. What groups of people in the United States today would correspond to each of the two men?

3. How do you personally view the use and making of money?

Essay Topic 3

By befriending a soldier, Lantier discovers he (Lantier) is not that different from the people against whom he is fighting. Both men share hopes, dreams and memories; both wish for the same kind of life and in the end, they can only be differentiated by the master they serve.

1. Do you think this statement could be true in any situation where one person or group of persons consider another an enemy? Use an example from the text and from life now in the United States to illustrate this statement.

2. If two enemies were placed in a room and had to stay together for one month without fighting do you think they would be enemies at the end of that month? Why or why not?

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