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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 was the number of people underfed in England based on Orwell's calculations?

2. Why were the industrial towns in England so ugly and noxious?

3. With what, according to Orwell, is socialism inextricably connected?

4. What book did Orwell write telling of his experiences in London with the unemployed street people?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the Means Test? Why did people dislike the Means Test?

2. Why did Orwell think Socialism was not on the rise in England? What did he think Socialists were doing to discourage people from participating?

3. Where did Orwell go to live for five years when he was twenty? What were the difference in class distinctions he observed there?

4. 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?

5. What one overarching generalization was Orwell taught about the lower classes of people in his town? What author did Orwell quote in support of this theory, and what did the author say?

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

7. What was "scrambling for the coal?"

8. Why did Orwell consider Socialism a way out of the social and economic conditions plaguing England in the 1930's? How did he present his argument?

9. 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?

10. What were some of the negative affects of unemployment on any town despite unemployment benefits?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Orwell described a daily event in many of the coal mining towns that was both astounding and appalling. What was "scrambling for coal?" Who participated in this event? Why? How was this symbolic of the rest of the unemployed worker's life?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Orwell spent a good deal of his life promoting Socialism and struggling with the issue of class differences and prejudices. He contended that to abolish class distinction, a person must be willing to abolish part of himself. What did he mean by this?

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