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

2. What plans did Hamper and Dale have together for their careers?

3. What machine did Hamper operate in the Cab Shop?

4. Why did Roy smoke pot during his lunch breaks?

5. What did Roy eventually do to his pet mouse?

Short Essay Questions

1. What stories does Hamper tell about Dan-O? What do these stories add to the reader's impression of the factory?

2. Who were Lightnin' and Same-O? What did their lives say about Hamper's future?

3. What kind of a person was Franklin? How was his personality different than expected? How did he act as a sort of prototype for Hamper's own life?

4. What did Hamper say about his younger siblings? How did this give the reader another glimpse of family life?

5. 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?

6. At the end of Chapter 1, what did Hamper reveal about his hopes for the future? What insight did he show about the past?

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

8. How did poetry temporarily draw Hamper out of his slide toward the factory? How might this have paved the way for more writing in the future?

9. What religious background did Hamper have during his childhood? How did religion shape his move into adulthood?

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Several times throughout the book, Hamper gives foreshadowing of his mental breakdown. Where are these references? Do they prepare the reader for what is coming?

Essay Topic 2

Why did Hamper always remember the man who came late for the GM work call, the first time he worked at the factory (pg 32)? How might his thoughts about the incident have changed as he moved in and out of GM?

Essay Topic 3

There is very little, if any, symbolism in the book Rivethead. What is the effect of a literal story? How does this method fit the subject matter?

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