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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 does Jim Nolan understand that his landlady will not do when he leaves the rooming house?

2. What does Mac lament doing after the men who try to steal their paper leave?

3. What strategy does Mac use when thinking about striking?

4. What does Mac tell Dick to do to raise bail for Joy?

5. What does Jim report to the checker as the cause of the anger among strikers?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 2, Jim reminisces about mysterious happenings during his childhood; how did this, according to Jim, affect his mother?

2. In Chapter 7, why does Mac need Doc Burton to come and stay on the campsite with the strikers?

3. What is the specific situation that occurred that Mac recounts as the reason for why Joy is "screwy."

4. Why is Joy incarcerated in Chapter 3?

5. What reason does Jim give Harry wanting to join the Party?

6. Why does Jim not mind the hard work and life of Party members that Harry explains to him?

7. Why does Al use his business and his father's land to explain why he does not want to join the cause?

8. What does Jim point out to Dakin when he says that he will pick cotton when all of the apples are picked?

9. In Chapter 6, why does the checker offer Jim money in exchange for information? What information?

10. In Chapter 5, what does Old Dan predict happening with the group of strikers in Torgas Valley? What does he mean by "water heaving before the boil"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is group man? How is it its own character although it is a collective of people? How is group man different from the individual? How does the collective become an additional danger to the outside dangers already present to the men? Cite specific examples from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

In Chapters 1 and 2 the reader learns more about the Party, who the members are, and what the organization is like. Use information from the first two chapters to discuss what clues are given to show the grassroots of the men in the Party, their social status, their education, and the level of their organization. How does the information help shape the reader's thoughts about the Party?

Essay Topic 3

Throughout "In Dubious Battle," chapters are ended with either sounds or images that are significant to foreshadowing what will come. Pick one sound or image from one of the chapters and discuss at length how and why that image or sound is significant to the narrative. How does it end the chapter? What is the sound or image's context? Why that sound or image? How does the sound or image foreshadow the ensuing chapters? Use specific information from the text to support your answer.

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