View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How was unemployment viewed by people in the late twenties and early thirties in England?
(a) As something that happened to you and from which you could escape.
(b) As something that you had coming to you for being so lazy.
(c) As something that happened to you and for which you were to blame.
(d) As something that happened because you did poorly at your job.

2. Why did Orwell think the upper-middle class were drawn to India, Kenya and Nigeria?
(a) Because they were unable to speak the language and were considered intelligent.
(b) Because they were considered royalty in those countries.
(c) Because they could effect social change.
(d) Because they could pretend to live the life of gentlemen.

3. What did Orwell find amazing about the unemployed men he met after returning from Burma?
(a) That they were angry and bitter people.
(b) That they were shiftless and uneducated.
(c) That they were well fed and well clothed.
(d) That they were ashamed of being unemployed.

4. Who was Comrade X?
(a) A member of the N.W.P. and an author.
(b) A member of the R.S.V.P. and a politician.
(c) A member of the A.C.L.U. and a politician.
(d) A member of the C.P.G.B. and an author.

5. What did Orwell say was the distinguishing mark of the upper-middle class before the war in England?
(a) It was known for its gluttony.
(b) It allowed no other people in its ranks.
(c) It believed in the power of money and education.
(d) It consisted of mainly military, official and professional people.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did a Northerner visiting Southern England see that part of the country?

2. What did Orwell believe every unemployed man should be given if he wanted it?

3. What did "The Sleeper Awakes" and "Brave New World" have in common in Orwell's opinion?

4. What things did Orwell believe a good writer needed that an unemployed man could not find?

5. When Orwell said he was "advocatus diaboli" what did he mean?

Short Essay Questions

1. What were some of the benefits available to unemployed workers in Wigan and Sheffield? How long did benefits last? How long could someone remain unemployed before running out of benefits?

2. What did Orwell identify as the two methodologies for abolishing the class system in England? Why did he believe neither of these two to be viable?

3. What were the reasons Orwell cited for Socialism being intrinsically tied to machine industrialization?

4. What did Orwell do in order to learn more about the working class conditions he had previously not understood? How did he go about trying to be a part of the working class and see the world through their eyes?

5. Why did Orwell think the working class people were rarely pure Socialists?

6. What was the employment situation in Wigan and Sheffield, the two towns Orwell wrote about?

7. What does the statement by Napoleon "an army marches on its stomach" mean in context of life in industrialized England?

8. Orwell described the view from a street in Sheffield. Describe what he saw when he looked around the town.

9. What was the unemployment situation in England in the 1930's? How did Orwell's figures differ from official government figures?

10. How did Orwell argue against the common misconception that the poor and unemployed are simply lazy?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,471 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample