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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 did Orwell find was the basis of the diet for families of the unemployed?

2. Why did Orwell say Socialism had not taken hold in England despite its common-sense doctrine?

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

4. What did Orwell find amazing about the unemployed men he met after returning from Burma?

5. What was one way the middle class worked to abolish class distinctions?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. 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?

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

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

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

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

9. What was a "shabby-genteel" family in Orwell's opinion? What were some of the characteristics of a shabby-genteel family?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Orwell believed that as economies become more depressed, class distinctions become more pronounced. Do you think this was true in pre-war England? What was the economy like in the 1930's? Based on what we have experienced here in the last four years, do you believe that class distinctions are greater as our economy has become depressed? Discuss.

Essay Topic 2

Orwell and many other writers have described the horrible work conditions in coal mines all over the world. Describe the conditions in the coal mines in northern England in the 1930's. What challenges and risks did miners face working in the mines? What was Orwell's reactions to being in the mines with the workers? Why?

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?

(see the answer keys)

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