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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's dad often denounce African-Americans?

2. At the beginning of Chapter Four, when Hamper and Bob-A-Lou went to the "State of the Factory" address, what were they given?

3. When did Hamper's great-grandfather begin working in the car factory?

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

5. Why was Hamper expelled from his Catholic high school?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

3. How did Hamper's marriage to Joanie end? Given his tone in the writing, what do you think his attitude was during this time?

4. 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?

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

6. 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?

7. 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?

8. To what does Hamper attribute his success at the beginning of high school? How does this fit into his plans for his life?

9. What system did Dale and Hamper rig up at work? How did this again change Hamper's attitude toward his job?

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

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?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

How was Hamper involved in writing throughout the course of his life? How did his attitude toward it change?

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