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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. Where are the children coming home from?

2. Where does Jurgis stay for a long time, leaving him alone and penniless at the end?

3. Who does Jurgis get a visit from?

4. What does Jurgis buy with his newfound wealth?

5. What is the speaker talking about?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to Jurgis' $100?

2. What does Jurgis learn about Marija's whereabouts?

3. When Jurgis gets out of the hospital, what does he do?

4. Jurgis happens upon another political meeting. What is the topic this time?

5. What caused little Antanas' death?

6. After the family is evicted, where do they go to live?

7. After the speech is over, what does Jurgis do?

8. Overcome with grief after Ona's death, what does Jurgis do to soothe his sorrows?

9. What does Jurgis do as soon as he gets his new job?

10. What does Ostrinski tell Jurgis should happen in Chicago?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The deaths of the animals is not only shocking, but also horrifying. What do the animals symbolize in this story? What does their treatment have to say about society at this time? Do you really think the meatpacking bosses really just wanted to make a profit, regardless of the horrors? What does this say about these bosses? What does this say about society?

Essay Topic 2

The idea of the union seems to be a good one for the workers, but does it ever help the workers? How? Why do you think the union fails in some of their efforts? Why do you think Jurgis ignores the call to strike? In today's world, unions seem to do more good, but do you think they are helpful to workers? Why or why not? In what ways can they harm the working environment?

Essay Topic 3

Survival of the fittest seems to be an overarching theme of this novel. Those who struggle to survive are often doomed to fail, while those who persevere still don't get all they want. Choose three character from the story and describe how they struggled to survive. What was the outcome? Who were the fittest in the story? Why did you choose these characters?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 564 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample