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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. What did Tom use to kill the man that pulled a knife on him in a bar fight?

2. What setting is described as where the swallows nest that Tom visits before leaving for California in Chapter 10?

3. The narrator states in Chapter 11, "... the machine man, driving a dead tractor on land he does not know and love, understands only" what (117)?

4. Who was the mother of the baby that was eaten by a pig next to the Joads'?

5. What is the pretty town that is described on the border of California in Chapter 12?

Short Essay Questions

1. How are the circumstances of the landowners described in Chapter 5?

2. How does Grampa die? Where does he die?

3. Why does Jim Casy ask to accompany the Joads? Why do they let him?

4. How does the narrator describe the spirit of man in Chapter 14?

5. What does Tom discover when he reaches his family's homestead in Chapter 6?

6. What information is related on the handbills that are discussed in Chapter 10?

7. What is the spanse of Highway 66? What is the status of this road today?

8. How does the narrator describe the vacant farmsteads in Chapter 11?

9. How are the used car lot owners described in Chapter 7?

10. Why did Jim Casy give up the ministry?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the symbolism of the tractors described in the novel. What do the tractors represent? What themes do they relate to in The Grapes of Wrath? How and why do the tractors replace the farmers?

Essay Topic 2

Describe and discuss the settings of "Hoovervilles" across California. Why were these camps given that name? How is the Hooverville described that the Joads encounter in Bakersfield? What are their perceptions of the camp?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze and discuss the character of Al Joad. How old is Al? What are Al's main objectives in the novel? Whom does Al marry and how does his character change in the course of the story?

(see the answer keys)

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