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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. Why does Mac want to bring Joy's body back to the strikers' camp?

2. Who accuses Mac of being insensitive and cold-blooded after Mac says he wants to take Joy's body back to camp?

3. Why does Mac think he should put Joy on public display during the funeral march?

4. What is Mac worried about the morning following Joy's death?

5. At what time does Mac plan the funeral march to match the highest traffic time?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does group man take over in Sam and Jim's group?

2. After Jim tells a group of men about Joy being a kind of labor leader, what do they say in return?

3. To whom does Jim attribute his cool demeanor when London praises him for it?

4. Why is Dakin incarcerated for biting a cop?

5. Why does Mac put Doc Burton in a tent with ten armed guards to protect him?

6. What does the false headline in the paper claim that infuriates Mac?

7. Why does Mac decide against leaving Joy's coffin open during the funeral?

8. How does Joy's death in Chapter 9 solidify the men in their cause?

9. What does Dick agree with Mac on concerning Joy's death?

10. What happens to London when an outside agitator tries to turn the crowd against him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is group man? How is it its own character although it is a collective of people? How is group man different from the individual? How does the collective become an additional danger to the outside dangers already present to the men? Cite specific examples from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Chapter 12 can be characterized almost completely by dry and depressing adjectives and images. How does the chapter begin and end? What images are presented to create this somber, depressing, hopeless tone? Scour through the chapter and pick out specific quotations that show how this tone is expressed by Steinbeck and then construct a well-written essay explaining why you think this chapter is characterized in such a way. What is going on at this point in the novel? Use specific information from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Jim's sudden death in Chapter 15 is shocking to the reader, who believes that it is Jim who will take over the cause because of his intelligence and calmness. However, would a living Jim be too dangerous for the cause? Mac once noted that he would hit Jim for being too smart and always right. Could this have been Jim's downfall had he lived and taken over the cause? Prove or disprove this statement with specific examples from the text to support your answer.

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