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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 Roland Major's profession?

2. Which of the flat bed truck riders stays with Sal in Cheyenne?

3. How does Sal get from Denver to San Francisco?

4. What does Hyman Solomon offer Sal, Dean, and Ed Dunkel?

5. Why do Sal and his friends leave the party in Central City?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Sal react after he introduces Dean Moriarty to Carlo Marx?

2. Why do Sal and his hitchhiker friend, Eddie, part in Iowa?

3. What does the group of friends do while in New York on New Year's Eve?

4. What are Sal's living arrangements while he is in Denver?

5. Why do Sal and Terry go to Terry's home town of Sabinal?

6. Why doesn't the driver offer Sal any food on his trip from Pittsburgh to New York?

7. Who do Dean, Marylou, and Ed Dunkel leave in Tucson and why?

8. Why does Lee Ann throw Remi out of their house?

9. What does Dean inform the group about at a party where Carlo is reading his poetry?

10. What is Sal's relationship like with Rita Bettencourt?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

There are conflicting views about Dean Moriarty. One is that he has a zest for life and the other is that he is crazy. What is your opinion on these views?

Support your answer with specific evidence from the book.

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast the two central characters in On the Road, Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty, on the following:

a. The idea of being on the road.

b. The role of their fathers in their lives.

c. Their attitudes toward women.

Essay Topic 3

The author of On the Road, Jack Kerouac, thought that a connotation of the term, Beat Generation, was "beatific," meaning blessed or blissful. He also thought that the Beat Movement had spiritual or religious principles. Do you think the attitudes and actions of the characters in the book exemplify religious principles? Why or why not?

Cite specific examples from the book to support your answers.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 620 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample