View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What are the Hennebeaus doing the day the miners go on strike?

2. Why does Lantier decide to hide?

3. Whose life does Lantier save when the Montsou miners are angry at Jean-Bart?

4. Who does Lantier get to know after he left hiding?

5. When is the provident fund started by Etienne empty?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The fourth part of the novel outlines the positions of the two camps involved in the growing conflict - the miners and the Company's representatives.

1. Why do you think the mine owners are unwilling to listen to the miners?

2. Do you think the miners were demanding too much from the mine owners? Why or why not?

3. If you were a negotiator between these two groups how would you attempt to forge an agreement?

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 387 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample