View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How much time passed between Hamper's first breakdown and his second?

2. When the Good Times Lounge sued Hamper, how much money did the owner want?

3. As he drove home during his breakdown, what did Hamper think he saw?

4. Why was Gino moved from his position as supervisor on the Rivet Line?

5. What fear did Dr. Kilaru diagnose Hamper with?

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. What difficulty did Hamper run into as he tried to get a visitor's pass for Alex Kotlowitz, the reporter from the Wall Street Journal? How does this difficulty illustrate the vast difference between the factory worker and the corporate man, even within the same company?

3. At the beginning of Chapter 5, how did Hamper portray the employees of the Michigan Employment Security Commission? Is this a fair picture?

4. What new vehicle was the factory hired to build? How was this, written in Hamper's account of life, a sign of the times?

5. 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?

6. What did Hamper think when Janice came to work on the Rivet Line? How was his reaction different from the men around him and how might this be surprising?

7. What arrangement did Paul and Hamper scheme up at work? How did Hamper justify this, even to the point of making it appear right?

8. 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?

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

10. Why were Moore and Hamper summoned to appear in court? How does this scene demonstrate Hamper's chosen place in the world?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

In Chapter 5, Hamper recounts the behaviors and antics of several of his coworkers. What makes these stories funny? How does Hamper choose words and phrases to emphasize the humor of the stories?

Essay Topic 3

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,861 words (approx. 7 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample