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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 Mac want to do for retaliation against what is set on fire?

2. Who does Bolter accuse Mac of being sent by?

3. At the end of Chapter 9, what does Mac caution the men not to eat but they eat anyway because of hunger?

4. To whom does Mac write a letter asking for help?

5. How does Doc Burton view civil disobedience and strikes?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the big mistake Mac claims that the vigilantes made in Chapter 9?

2. Why does Mac put Doc Burton in a tent with ten armed guards to protect him?

3. What happens after Sam burns Hunter's house as retaliation for the vigilantes burning Anderson's farm.

4. What happens towards the end of Chapter 9 that Mac is blamed for?

5. Where do the cows, bull calf, and lima beans for the strikers come from?

6. Who is group man?

7. Why does Mac decide against leaving Joy's coffin open during the funeral?

8. After Jim tells a group of men about Joy being a kind of labor leader, what do they say in return?

9. What does the false headline in the paper claim that infuriates Mac?

10. Why does Dakin call Mac cold-blooded?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When a rubber band is stretched, it reaches a point where it is stretched as far as it can go and can snap. Chapter 13 is the heightened action that Steinbeck uses all of the previous chapters to work towards. Winning or losing the strike will all depend on the actions of the following day in Chapter 14. Liken Chapter 13 to that of the stretched rubber band analogy and Chapter 14 as what will happen to the rubber band.

Essay Topic 2

Anderson's barn is burned in Chapter 13, which creates a turning point within the narrative. Mac warned earlier on in the novel that if the Anderson's farm was touched, the entire Valley will burn. How does this prediction come to fruition? How is the barn the turning point in the novel as predicted? Use specific examples from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

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.

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