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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. Who is Dean referring to when he tells Sal that "God has arrived"?

2. What does Sal do in Texas to get money to buy gas?

3. Who does the travel bureau car that Sal and Dean drive from Denver to Chicago belong to?

4. What does Sal do in Part 3, when the other passengers criticize Dean?

5. Where do Sal, Dean, and Marylou drop Alfred off?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Camille do to Dean and Sal in the spring of 1949?

2. Why does Dean want to take the trip with Sal and Stan?

3. What decision did the other passengers override Sal and Dean on in Sacramento?

4. How do Sal, Dean, and Marylou get money so they can make it from Arizona to California?

5. Sal and Dean have their first argument at a restaurant in Denver. What is the argument about?

6. What is the dream that both Sal and Dean have about driving?

7. What place do Dean and Sal plan to travel to where they have never been before?

8. What arrives in San Francisco that allows Sal to return to New York?

9. Why are the car owner and the couple all too happy to drop Sal and Dean off in Denver?

10. Who do Sal and Dean ride with in a travel bureau car from San Francisco to Denver?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Post-World War II America was very insular by turning inward and focusing on internal issues and families. How does Beat society compare to post-World War II America?

Essay Topic 2

On the Road depicts counterculture in 1950s America.

a. How do the main characters exemplify counterculture in the novel?

b. Why were they considered counterculture at the time?

c. Would they still be considered counterculture today?

Essay Topic 3

Explain the concept of time in On the Road and include the various views of time to the following groups:

a. Beat time.

b. American time.

c. Mexican time.

d. African-American/jazz time.

e. Dean Moriarty and time.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 536 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample