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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 not want to write about being a shop-rat, in an article for the Flint Voice?

2. What two different personalities did Hank exhibit?

3. What did Hamper do during his vacation?

4. Why did Hamper refuse to enroll in an outpatient mental health center?

5. Why was Moore fired from Mother Jones?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was one of Hamper's favorite ways to pass time at work? How is this an interesting facet of his character?

2. How did Hamper stumble onto writing? What does this say about him as a writer?

3. How did Hamper's fellow factory workers respond to the article in the Wall Street Journal? Given the tone of this part of the story, where did Hamper actually get his happiness?

4. By the time Janice moved to a different area of the factory, how had she changed? How is this different from what might be expected of a woman working that job?

5. During and after his first panic attack, what did Hamper realize about himself?

6. What conversation did Hamper and his grandfather have during the family reunion? How does this fittingly illustrate the difference in their generations?

7. In the Epilogue, Hamper shows the conflict between his mindset as a shop-rat and his time outside the factory in therapy. How did he show this and which attitude was stronger in his mind?

8. What kind of place was Mark's Lounge? How was this place exactly what Hamper needed?

9. Hamper said that working on the Rivet Line was like being paid to flunk high school the rest of your life (pgs 185,188). How might this be true? Why is Hamper content with this lifestyle?

10. What was Hamper's opinion of the Flint Voice when he first read it? What expectations does this create in the reader's mind?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What makes a good autobiography? Does Hamper's book fulfill those requirements? What are the pros and cons of a fictionalized life compared to an autobiography?

Essay Topic 2

As seen in several examples throughout the book, how did General Motors treat their employees? How did Hamper's stories shed an honest light on the company?

Essay Topic 3

How did Roy's crackup prefigure Hamper's own mental breakdown? What role did Hamper play on Roy's story, and how did Roy's compare to his own?

(see the answer keys)

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