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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. During his first day of work, before he learned Roy's name, what nickname did Hamper give him?
(a) The prophet.
(b) The greenie.
(c) The naïve one.
(d) The ignorant one.

2. What job did Dale hold during the first part of his day?
(a) Tax accountant.
(b) Traffic cop.
(c) Pig farmer.
(d) Horse rancher.

3. What was the most significant thing that acid did for Hamper?
(a) Gave him a bad attitude.
(b) Turned everything purple.
(c) Destroyed reality.
(d) Made him happy.

4. At the factory, when was the most popular time to drink?
(a) While standing at the assembly line.
(b) Right before coming to work.
(c) During the lunch break.
(d) Any time the person was on the clock.

5. How much time was required for an employee to secure his job at GM?
(a) Seven days.
(b) Ninety days.
(c) Thirty days.
(d) Six months.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why did the supervisors add another task to Hamper and Dale's job?

2. What was the name of the new school that combined all local Catholic high schools?

3. Why did Hamper grow up in a neighborhood of houses that all look alike?

4. What happened one day when Hamper left journalism class on drugs?

5. What motivated Hamper to make the honor roll during his freshmen year of high school?

Short Essay Questions

1. Hamper ends Chapter 3 with the sentence, "The money was right, even if we weren't" (pg 43). What does this mean?

2. How did Hamper's stories about life after high school reveal the time period in which they were written? What clues did he give by telling how much things cost?

3. How is Hamper's portrayal of his mother pathetic at times? Is it a fair character description?

4. Why is Hamper's description of Flint, Michigan, at the beginning of Chapter 2, a powerful one?

5. What do Hamper's stories about high school revolve around? How does this show that he was giving in to the nuns' perception of him that began in junior high?

6. How was Hamper's father an anomaly among fathers? Even at a young age, what was Hamper's opinion of him? How might this affect his own development in the future?

7. What story does Hamper tell involving Lesley Gore's music? How does this story show that Hamper, if only for an hour and twelve minutes, transcended the shop-rat mindset?

8. "I'm thinking that rock stars, even dead ones, don't come cheap" (pg xix). In the context of the Prologue, what does this quote mean?

9. Hamper said that Same-O was quite likely the only genius he ever met at the General Motors factory (pg 66). Why did he say this?

10. At the end of Chapter 4, Hamper reveals his place in the present time and lets the reader know that the events took place some nine years before he wrote about them. What effect does this have on the reader's perception of the book?

(see the answer keys)

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