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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. Who does Sal seek out when he first arrives in San Francisco?

2. Who thinks Sal should not travel out West?

3. Why does Sal leave Terry?

4. What happens in Washington D.C. on the return trip from Virginia?

5. Where does Sal see Dean after his first trip on the road?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What favor does Remi ask Lee Ann before he moves out of their house?

3. What does Sal find out when he calls Chad King after he arrives in Denver?

4. Why does Sal want to leave Denver?

5. Why do Sal and his hitchhiker friend, Eddie, part in Iowa?

6. What is happening in Sal Paradise's life before he meets Dean Moriarty?

7. What happens to Sal, Dean, Marylou, and Ed Dunkel in Washington, D.C.?

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

9. Why does Lee Ann throw Remi out of their house?

10. Why does Sal Paradise travel West?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

a. Why is being on the road so important to the Beat Movement?

b. What transformations or epiphanies do the following characters have, if any, after being "on the road"? Cite specific examples from the book.

- Sal Paradise

- Dean Moriarty

- Ed Dunkel

- Stan Shepherd

Essay Topic 3

Explain the concept of time in On the Road and include the various views of time to the following groups:

a. Beat time.

b. American time.

c. Mexican time.

d. African-American/jazz time.

e. Dean Moriarty and time.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 633 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample