View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. At the beginning of Chapter 14, what does the paper Mac picks up falsely accuse the strikers of?

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

3. Who is elected squad leader?

4. Who leaves the camp to go sleep in the hospital?

5. Why does Mac decide against putting Joy on public display during the funeral march?

Short Essay Questions

1. What reasoning does Doc Burton give for why he is working so hard for the Party but is not a Party member?

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

3. Why is Dan appearing to be losing his mind when Jim goes to speak with him?

4. What does Sam brag about to Jim when they go out in a group together?

5. In Chapter 13, how does the reader see that there is a thin line between the migrant workers and the townspeople during the funeral march?

6. Why does Doc Burton make the remark about shooting Mac if he were the boss of the other side?

7. Where do the cows, bull calf, and lima beans for the strikers come from?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Jim is the protagonist and the system is the antagonist. Support this statement with specific examples from the text that show this contrast and the nature of the relationship between the two.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Steinbeck wrote "In Dubious Battle" during the McCarthy era and was even blacklisted himself. How is this book specifically written for its social context? How does the suspicion of spies, the fear of being blacklisted, and turncoats within the novel resonate with what is going on in Steinbeck's contemporary period? Write an essay describing the parallels between the novel and Steinbeck's life.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 797 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample