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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 amazing about the unemployed men he met after returning from Burma?

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

3. Who did Orwell believe was doing the best work for the unemployed in the thirties?

4. What were the "Clothing Clubs?"

5. What was "scrambling for the coal?"

Short Essay Questions

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

2. 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?

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

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

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

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

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

8. 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?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Orwell used his childhood and upbringing as an example of social class, class prejudices and class values. Discuss the differences Orwell saw between the bourgeois, the lower-middle class and the working class in England in the 1930's. Why was this distinction between the classes important to Orwell in his discussion of Socialism?

Essay Topic 2

Orwell described the working class man and said "he does not act. He is acted upon." Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not? Use examples from the reading.

Essay Topic 3

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?

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