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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 national park does Steinbeck visit while in Montana?

2. What returns for Mrs. Steinbeck when she talks to a fellow Texan?

3. What impresses Steinbeck about the Oregon coast?

4. What impresses Steinbeck with its strange rock formations?

5. What is the only valuable thing that happens on this day?

Short Essay Questions

1. What philosophical thoughts does Steinbeck have when he passes into Idaho?

2. What does Steinbeck encounter in New Orleans that sickens him?

3. What does Steinbeck admire most about Texans?

4. What has Steinbeck learned about America so far?

5. Explain how the Badlands are a study in opposites.

6. Explain the irony in the scene where Steinbeck and Charley explore a sequoia grove.

7. What effect is the Cold War having on average Americans?

8. What is Steinbeck's intention for stopping at Sauk Centre, Minnesota?

9. What is the irony of the situation Steinbeck encounters at the Canadian border?

10. What lessons does Steinbeck learn about house trailers in 1960 that could also apply to 2009?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain how Steinbeck was able to diffuse a family fight between a gruff man in Idaho and the man's 20-year-old son who wanted to be a hairdresser in a big city. It is not stated, but there is the possibility that the young man was gay and the father could not accept this part of his son. Do you think this is the position Steinbeck was able to ascertain quickly? Explain why the topic of homosexuality was even more taboo in 1960 than it is today.

Essay Topic 2

Why does Steinbeck push past the hesitancy he feels about making the trip? Why does he make the trip even though he will be leaving the comforts of home in place of desolation and loneliness? What is it about people like Steinbeck whose curiosity trumps comfort?

Essay Topic 3

What are Steinbeck's reasons for embarking on this journey? What does he hope to find that he did not see in a similar trip 25 years before? What is the unspoken private motivation of Steinbeck's vs. the reason he provides to everyone else?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 865 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample