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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does Steinbeck stay in Texas three extra days?
(a) Charley needs veterinary care.
(b) Steinbeck finds it hard to say goodbye to his wife.
(c) Steinbeck is tired of driving.
(d) The camper needs some engine work done.

2. Where does Steinbeck go to reminisce with an old friend?
(a) Fishing
(b) The ballgame
(c) Johnny Garcia's bar
(d) Church

3. Whose birthplace is Steinbeck anxious to visit?
(a) Pocahantas
(b) Sinclair Lewis
(c) Knut Rockne
(d) John F. Kennedy

4. Where does Steinbeck head after leaving California?
(a) The Mojave Desert
(b) The Grand Canyon
(c) The Rocky Mountains
(d) The Tetons

5. Near what river does Steinbeck spend the night?
(a) Maple River
(b) Colorado River
(c) Ohio River
(d) Mississippi River

6. What does Steinbeck contemplate as he drives through Louisiana?
(a) How he can't wait to get home
(b) What to give his wife for Christmas
(c) The only black family he had known while growing up--the Coopers
(d) How he hopes his new book will be a success

7. How are Steinbeck's political views perceived by his family?
(a) As a nuisance
(b) As an insult to his upbringing
(c) As an uninformed person
(d) As a radical

8. Aside from the unpleasant family visit, how does Steinbeck find the Monterey Peninsula?
(a) It is too industrialized to suit him.
(b) It is more attractive but has lost its sense of wildness.
(c) It is much dirtier than he remembered.
(d) It is sadly declining.

9. What does the park ranger warn Steinbeck about as he enters the answer to #130?
(a) Coyotes
(b) Falling rocks
(c) Extreme temperatures
(d) Bears

10. What does Steinbeck exclude from the novel?
(a) Phone calls he places to his family
(b) The notes he makes on a tape recorder
(c) The Chicago reunion with his wife
(d) The notes he makes in a journal

11. What is the name of the group giving disturbing speeches?
(a) The Cheerleaders
(b) The Republicans
(c) The Toastmasters
(d) The Democrats

12. What does Steinbeck see beneath the bluster and brag of the Texans he knows?
(a) Sensitivity
(b) Bad tempers
(c) Intelligence
(d) Ignorance

13. Which author wrote that you can't go home again?
(a) T.S. Eliot
(b) John Steinbeck
(c) F. Scott Fitzgerald
(d) Thomas Wolfe

14. What does Steinbeck enjoy in Idaho?
(a) Wildflowers
(b) Snow-capped mountains
(c) Fly fishing
(d) Baked potatoes

15. What does Steinbeck plan to do in Chicago?
(a) Meet his wife
(b) See his publisher
(c) Go to a Cubs game
(d) Eat a great steak dinner

Short Answer Questions

1. Where does Steinbeck head after spending the night among the sequoias?

2. What is the occupation of Steinbeck's camping neighbor for the night?

3. What threatens Steinbeck's stay at the Maple River?

4. What beauty does Steinbeck see at sunset?

5. What impresses Steinbeck with its strange rock formations?

(see the answer keys)

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