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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. In one town, what was built instead of public housing the town desperately needed?

2. Who was Old Jack?

3. Who was Mr. Reilly?

4. What did Orwell say the fillers looked like?

5. What did Orwell find to be the determining factor in the way housekeeping was done?

Short Essay Questions

1. There were three shift in the mines Orwell discussed. What happened in each of the three shifts?

2. What were the three terms Orwell used to describe the construction of the substandard housing in Wigan and Sheffield? How are they each affected by the lavatories available to them?

3. Describe the elevator that took Orwell and the miners down to the tunnels.

4. What were some of the common conditions in the houses Orwell studied for his book?

5. How did Orwell describe his room at the Brookers?

6. How did Orwell come to write "The Road to Wigan Pier?" When did he write the book? For whom? What were the three parts of the book when it was originally published?

7. Why did Orwell leave the Brookers? Where did he go? How did he respond to his train trip leaving town?

8. What were the coal mines like for Orwell? How did he see the men who mined the coal?

9. When people moved into the Corporation housing, what were some of the restrictions by which they had to abide?

10. Why did Orwell make the comparison between the miner's wages and the amount of coal and money the coal mines produce? What did he want the reader to understand?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Orwell explained that in England there is a natural rivalry between the northern part of the country and the southern. One expression Orwell used was the Northern Cult. The Northern Cult was a particular way of thinking about England and Orwell found it to be important when learning about class values. What was the Northern Cult? What were the roots of this expression? Why was this an important part of class distinction over the years? What were the qualities associated with the Northern Cult?

Essay Topic 2

In his descriptions of unemployment in the middle and working classes, Orwell explained that the men and their families in each class had a vastly different reaction to the condition. Orwell contended that the working class man was better equipped to lose his job and become unemployed than the middle class man. What were some of the reasons Orwell cited for this? Can you find proof in studying the middle and working classes to support Orwell's contention that one class was better equipped than another to be out of work?

Essay Topic 3

There is an inherent conflict on Socialism between the advancement of the machine state and industrialization and the working man's job. How did Orwell address this conflict? How did he believe Socialism should address the conflict? Do you believe the two--the machine state and the working man--are by nature at odds with each other? Why or why not?

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