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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 highway is described as going from Clarksville and Ozark and Van Buren and Fort Smith through Arkansas in Chapter 12?

2. What does the 40-year-old woman do as she approaches the turtle on the highway in Chapter 3?

3. What did Uncle John's wife presumably die from?

4. What does the truck driver say he is hoping to study through correspondence school in Chapter 2?

5. What does Tom Joad offer the truck driver a "snort" of in Chapter 2 (14)?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What symbolism is evoked by the tractors in Chapter 11?

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

4. Why do the Joads and Wilsons decide to travel together?

5. Where does Tom encounter Jim Casy? What is Casy doing when he encounters Tom?

6. What do the banks represent in the novel?

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

8. What is the purpose of the author's focus on the turtle in Chapter 3?

9. How does Tom's family respond upon seeing him in Chapter 8?

10. Why does Tom take the turtle with him in Chapter 4?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and analyze the character of Tom Joad in the novel. When and where is Tom introduced? What are his circumstances in the beginning of the novel? How do those circumstances change? How would you describe Tom's character arc?

Essay Topic 2

How are the Okies perceived by the general populace in California? Why? Who benefits from the arrival of the Okies? How?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze and discuss the characters of Ma and Pa Joad. How old are these characters? Where do they live in the beginning of the novel? Why do they choose to go to California? What are the dynamics between these characters?

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