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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. The bosses at the slaughterhouses cheat the men by ________ their hours of work.

2. What does Jurgis already know about Ona?

3. What does Jurgis hope for Stanislovas to do?

4. How do Ona and Jurgis pay for the furnishings they acquire?

5. What are men at the slaughterhouses dying of due to the weather?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Jurgis begin to do in order to deal with the horrors of his situation?

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

3. Why is Stanislovas afraid to go out into the snow?

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

5. Who wanted Ona and Jurgis to have a lavish wedding, even though they would have been fine with something simpler?

6. What does Elzbieta's factory do?

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The idea of love is one that seems to peek out of the story at times, causing the reader to realize the humanity of the story as well. Why do you think Ona and Jurgis love each other? How do they show their love to each other? In the case of Marija and Tamoszius, why were they included in the story? What purpose do they serve? What is Sinclair saying about love?

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 food that is available to the workers is not only bad, but also filled with ingredients that could harm them. Why do you think the meat packers don't care if their foods hurt their workers? Doesn't this seem to be working against them? Why does this lack of high quality food seem to continue on for so long? Why do you think the inspectors don't care?

(see the answer keys)

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