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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, primarily, did GM management not crack down on the employees' drinking during work?
2. Why did Jack take a sledgehammer to the cigarette machine?
3. What day was Hamper finally called in to work at the car factory?
4. Approximately how long was Hamper's father gone?
5. When did Hamper's great-grandfather begin working in the car factory?
Short Essay Questions
1. When did the GM assembly line begin to look like an attractive option to Hamper? How did this demonstrate a change in Hamper's thinking?
2. Hamper's father, though not a model of determination or reliability, often berated his son because of his poor grades. How did his cursing set the tone of their conversations about school?
3. What pattern emerged in junior-high that led Hamper to consider the life of a shop-rat? How did he begin to identify with his family who had worked in the factory?
4. How did Hamper's marriage to Joanie end? Given his tone in the writing, what do you think his attitude was during this time?
5. "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?
6. 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?
7. 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?
8. What kind of person was Joanie? Use Hamper's references to her to create a character description.
9. How does Hamper describe the Cab Shop the first time he goes there? What about the description is the most informative about the scene?
10. When Hamper tells the story of people who disagree with the shop-rats' drinking, he writes much of the story in capital letters. What literary effect does this visual change have on the story?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
How did Hamper's writing career begin? What was the progression?
Essay Topic 2
How was Hamper involved in writing throughout the course of his life? How did his attitude toward it change?
Essay Topic 3
What is the effect of Hamper's family tree as the reader moves through the book? Why would he give such detail about his extended family work history?
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This section contains 1,752 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page) |
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