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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 is Central City?

2. What is one of the things Sal enjoys doing in New Orleans?

3. How is Rita Bettencourt described?

4. Who is the woman traveling with Dean Moriarty when Sal first meets him?

5. How does Lee Ann feel about Sal staying with her?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Sal confess to Dean while traveling from New Jersey to Virginia?

2. Why does Sal break up with Lucille?

3. Why do Sal and Terry go to Terry's home town of Sabinal?

4. What job does Remi Boncoeur find for, Sal when he arrives in San Francisco?

5. What is the vow Sal and Terry make when Sal leaves for New York?

6. What does the group of friends do while in New York on New Year's Eve?

7. Why doesn't the driver offer Sal any food on his trip from Pittsburgh to New York?

8. Who is "The Ghost?"

9. What are Sal's living arrangements while he is in Denver?

10. Who do Dean, Marylou, and Ed Dunkel leave in Tucson and why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At the time it was published, On the Road was considered rebellious and obscene. It also exalts criminals, swindlers, drifters, and drug users.

a. What does Sal Paradise find so appealing about the characters and situations he encounters? Why?

b. What distinction would Sal make between being a criminal and having a zest for life, if any?

Cite examples from the book to support your answers.

Essay Topic 2

Jazz music is an underlying theme in On the Road.

a. Describe the role of jazz in the Beat movement.

b. Describe how jazz influences how On the Road was written.

Essay Topic 3

Sal and Dean mention finding "IT" throughout the novel

a. How do Sal and Dean define "IT"?

b. Do they ever find "IT"?

c. Do you think that "IT" has religious or spiritual undertones? Why or why not?

Cite specific examples from the book to support your answers.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 616 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample