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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 does Jurgis do to the answer to #82?

2. What is another fee the family learns they need to pay on their home?

3. What makes the family realize they will need to make more money?

4. Who made the person in #81 turn to prostitution?

5. What is the name of the collective group of businesses in Chicago?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What happens at Marija's job at the beef trimming factory?

3. Why can't any people pay off the 'new' houses they have bought?

4. Who is the narrator of the novel?

5. Why are the sausages the family eats not helping their nutrition?

6. What is the suspected cause of Elzbieta's child's death?

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

8. After Jonas deserts the family, what does the family have to do in order to bring in more money?

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

10. What holiday occurs during the time that Jurgis is in jail?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Jurgis could be seen as a mythical tragic hero of the story. However, as with all heroes, he has flaws. What are some of Jurgis' flaws? What are some of his strengths? Do you think he is a hero in the end of the story? Why or why not? How does he affect others? Or is his battle an internal one?

Essay Topic 2

The idea of not being able to speak English is one that hurts Jurgis and his family in the beginning of their time in the US. Describe three situations in which knowing English would have helped Jurgis and his family. What are some ways that the packing plant owners took advantage of the workers because of the language barrier? Do you think it was fair of the packers to take advantage of the workers? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

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?

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This section contains 735 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample