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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 is the name of the mandatory morning exercise program?

2. Why did Parsons' daughter report a man to the police?

3. What do the bells of St. Clement's say?

4. What does Winston buy in the junk shop?

5. Where does Winston miss a meeting in Part 1, Chapter 8?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why doesn't Winston kill the girl with the dark hair? Who else doesn't he kill for very similar reasons?

2. Why are the proles the only force capable of overthrowing the Party?

3. How does the dark-haired girl's note affect Winston? Has it changed his outlook?

4. What is the significance is behind Winston's dream about his mother? How might she have died?

5. What might the woman singing in the street symbolizes?

6. Look up the word "proletariat" in the dictionary. What does it mean? Why does the Party ignore the proles? Is this strange?

7. Where does Winston work, and what is his job? Why does he have to do this?

8. What do the Parsons children want to go see in Part 1, Chapter 2? What do you think of them?

9. Winston fears that the dark-haired girl is not a member of the Thought Police; instead, she is an amateur spy. Why do you think the latter is more dangerous?

10. "All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary." What is a palimpsest, and why do you think the author used this word?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One of the most important warnings in Nineteen-Eighty-Four is that the past can be erased and history can be changed. "Who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present controls the past."

Write a short essay on a real historical event about which historians disagree. Be sure to show both sides, and in the conclusion, explain what you think really happened and why.

Essay Topic 2

It can be said that Winston is tragically flawed due to his continued defiance of the rules of Oceania. His actions will eventually lead to his downfall.

Think deeply about yourself and your actions. Do you know someone who has a tragic flaw, or do you yourself have one? Write an essay explaining the flaw, why you consider it to be a problem, some examples demonstrating it, and how you think you or the other person can change to fix the flaw. Remember to keep within the definition of "tragic flaw," and avoid simply writing about something that you don't like about yourself or another person.

Essay Topic 3

Limits on power are often referred to as "checks and balances." Write an essay on this subject, touching upon:

1) The checks and balances that exist in the U.S. Constitution.

2) Some examples of checks and balances that have succeeded or failed.

3) Your vision of what the ideal system of checks and balances would look like.

(see the answer keys)

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