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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 causes Ona and Jurgis to be upset after the wedding?

2. What does the person in #83 threaten to do if the character does not agree to prostitute herself?

3. What holiday does Jurgis call 'their' holiday?

4. Where does Jurgis wait instead of going in to meet his boss?

5. Who is advertising hot meals that ends up causing Jurgis to eventually drink?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who does Marija fall in love with?

2. Why does Jurgis decline to be in the union at first?

3. What happened to those who had a sore on their hand and they then got pickling brine on it?

4. Why does Jurgis get his job back at Brown's?

5. What is one of the ways the slaughterhouse bosses cheat the men out of money?

6. What does Jurgis decide to sign in order to give him more power in his new country?

7. What does Elzbieta's factory do?

8. Which character could be described as young, strong, and full of optimism?

9. Why does Jurgis beat up Conner?

10. How do Ona and Jurgis furnish their 'new' home?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The idea of the union seems to be a good one for the workers, but does it ever help the workers? How? Why do you think the union fails in some of their efforts? Why do you think Jurgis ignores the call to strike? In today's world, unions seem to do more good, but do you think they are helpful to workers? Why or why not? In what ways can they harm the working environment?

Essay Topic 2

The narrator of the story is Sinclair himself, which gives the story a different tone than most other novels. That said, how do you think Sinclair's narration has affected the story? What does this story say about Sinclair? Do you think the story could have been told more truthfully by Jurgis? What would have happened if the story had been told from the meat packer manager's point of view?

Essay Topic 3

Sinclair is also quick to point out how horrible the system of capitalism really is. In what ways does capitalism not work for the characters in the story? Are there any benefits to the capitalist way? How does Jurgis specifically become hurt by the capitalist system? Do you think Sinclair is right? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 720 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample