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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The mill-owner’s son tells his companions in “Life in the Iron Mills,” “If I had the making of men, these men who do the lowest part of the world’s work should be” what?
(a) Slaves
(b) Robots
(c) Machines
(d) Put out of their misery

2. How many men are in the group of visitors that come through the mill where Hugh works in “Life in the Iron Mills”?
(a) 2-3
(b) 5-6
(c) 8-9
(d) 10-11

3. The narrator states in the beginning of “Life in the Iron Mills,” “The idiosyncrasy of this town is” what?
(a) Cleanliness
(b) Paint
(c) Sunshine
(d) Smoke

4. How many children did Rebecca Harding Davis have?
(a) 2
(b) 1
(c) 3
(d) 7

5. Whom does Deborah feel a pang of jealousy about as she lay on the ash heap at Hugh’s job in “Life in the Iron Mills”?
(a) Mr. Mitchell
(b) Janey
(c) Old Wolfe
(d) Sarah

Short Answer Questions

1. What word from “Life in the Iron Mills” means given or characterized by joking?

2. How many votes does the mill-owner’s son say his father brought to the polls for his candidate last November in “Life in the Iron Mills”?

3. Rebecca Harding Davis met and became acquainted with whom while staying with Nathanial Hawthorne?

4. When was “Life in the Iron Mills” first published in a periodical?

5. By what nickname is Hugh Wolfe called in the mill in “Life in the Iron Mills”?

Short Essay Questions

1. What decision does Hugh reach when he goes to attempt to return the money in “Life in the Iron Mills”? Why?

2. What is Deb doing when her character is first introduced in “Life in the Iron Mills”?

3. How is Hugh caught by the authorities in “Life in the Iron Mills”? What is Hugh charged with and sentenced?

4. What does Deb attempt to give Hugh after they return home from the mill in “Life in the Iron Mills”? How does Hugh respond?

5. How would you describe the setting of “Life in the Iron Mills”? What tone is established through the story’s setting?

6. How does the narrator describe Hugh’s interaction with Deborah when she brings him dinner at the mill in “Life in the Iron Mills”?

7. Who did Rebecca Harding Davis meet on her first trip North, according to the author of “A Biographical Interpretation”?

8. How are the themes of poverty and class entrapment illustrated through the character of Hugh in “Life in the Iron Mills”?

9. When did Rebecca Harding Davis write “Life in the Iron Mills”? Who published it?

10. What is the basic story related in the plot of “Life in the Iron Mills”? How would you “sum up” the story in one or two sentences?

(see the answer keys)

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