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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. How does Sal get from Denver to San Francisco?

2. What does Dean want his friends to help him with?

3. What New York hitchhiker does Sal meet in Des Moines?

4. Where does Dean want to travel before his divorce with Marylou?

5. Who thinks Sal should not travel out West?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Old Bull Lee warn Sal about in New Orleans?

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

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

4. What happens to Sal, Dean, Marylou, and Ed Dunkel in Washington, D.C.?

5. Who is traveling with Mississippi Gene?

6. What is happening in Sal Paradise's life before he meets Dean Moriarty?

7. What does Sal learn about Dean's love life in Denver?

8. How does Sal get the money to travel from Denver to San Francisco?

9. Who does Sal meet on the bus from Bakersfield to Los Angeles?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At the time it was published, On the Road was considered rebellious and obscene. It also exalts criminals, swindlers, drifters, and drug users.

a. What does Sal Paradise find so appealing about the characters and situations he encounters? Why?

b. What distinction would Sal make between being a criminal and having a zest for life, if any?

Cite examples from the book to support your answers.

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

In Des Moines, Sal experiences the distinction of the East of his youth and the West of his future.

a. What does the West represent to Sal?

b. Contrast his life when he is living on the east coast and when he is living out west.

c. How have his voyages changed his views on life?

(see the answer keys)

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