View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who was John Galsworthy?

2. What was a favorite refuge for the unemployed man in Wigan?

3. What was the most obvious sign of malnourishment in the families of the unemployed men?

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

5. In 1918, what was the general feeling throughout England?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Orwell explain the attitude toward the family in a working class society? How did it differ in his opinion from the middle class man and his family?

2. 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?

3. Describe the slag heaps found in northern England. What did they look like? What were they eventually used for in Wigan?

4. How did Orwell see the clash between the Socialist idea of the machine state and the working people Socialism wished to bring into the fold?

5. How did Orwell's time in the military police effect his thinking about government and oppression?

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

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

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

10. What were the attributes of the Northern snobbishness Orwell writes about?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the first chapter, Orwell described the meals provided by the Brookers to their lodgers. These meals were non-nutritious and in no way sated a man's hunger. How is this nutritional issue symbolic of other themes in his book, such as the poor and the country's need for Socialism?

Essay Topic 2

Orwell described in detail the house in which he stayed with the Brookers, and the houses he visited and reported on for his book. Discuss the housing conditions in Wigan, Sheffield and other towns in northern England in the 1930's. Why were things so deplorable? Who did Orwell believe was responsible for the living conditions of the working and unemployed poor?

Essay Topic 3

Orwell spent five years in Burma as a member of the Imperial Police. Discuss how this experience affected his life, his politics and his belief system.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,377 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample