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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 story does Joy recount to explain why his hands are crushed?

2. What does Mac admit to Jim after delivering Lisa's baby?

3. Where does Mac hope that a potential riot among the pickers could spread to?

4. Who does the orchard superintendent tell London to get rid of?

5. What names does London use to refer to Jim and Mac at the end of Chapter 5 when speaking with Dakin?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why does Mac want to make sure that Doc Burton has no legal or civil problems?

3. Why does Jim think his mother died?

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

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

6. How does Mac use the analogy of running new hunting dogs with old timers with Jim?

7. Why does Mac say that if Lisa had died the birthing experience would still have been worthwhile?

8. How does Dan break his hip?

9. What are the sounds playing at the end of Chapter 6?

10. What is the situation in Torgas Valley with the Growers' Association and the pickers?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Chapter 10, Sam savagely beats up one of the checkers before Jim is shot. Can the reader feel sympathy for the checker and the other side of the battle? Why, or why not? Think about social context, war tactics and the mentality of either side. Can both sides have sympathy from the reader? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Old Dan is constipated, delusional, and raving as the novel progresses. How is Dan a symbol of the collective group of men? Think about Doc Burton's speculations involving group man and mobs being infectious diseases. How does this reinforce Dan as a symbol for the strikers? Use specific examples from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Violence plays a key role throughout "In Dubious Battle." Both sides of the strike employ violence, sometimes differently but, towards the end of the novel, quite similarly. Describe how both sides of the fight use violence and how their use of violence ultimately amounts to little. Cite specific examples from the text to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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