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Worksheetsfrom "The Grapes of Wrath"
Total questions: 21
Worksheet time: 14mins
Identify the two choices that best answer the question.
In the excerpt from The Grapes of Wrath, what are the characters selling? Choose two options.
belongings they cannot carry on their journey
the house they no longer plan to live in
extra food they have in their pantry
assistance for people moving away
horses they hope to get cash for
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
In the excerpt from The Grapes of Wrath, how does the narrator mainly feel toward those he interacts with in town?
bitter
grateful
satisfied
indifferent
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
According to the excerpt from The Grapes of Wrath, where is the narrator planning to travel?
the St. Louis Fair
the East Coast
His hometown
California
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
In the excerpt from The Grapes of Wrath, why do the characters decide to move away?
They want to live closer to their extended family.
They can no longer survive on their dry farmlands.
They know that they can make more money elsewhere.
They heard rumors that a destructive storm is approaching.
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
What do the characters in the excerpt from The Grapes of Wrath do with the belongings that they cannot sell or take with them?
drop them by the road
leave them for others
give them away
burn them
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
Which of these people would most likely be described as ruthless? Base your answer on the meaning of ruthless.
a dictator who treats his subjects cruelly
a teacher who knows little about instruction
a politician who raises money for a campaign
an employer who always encourages her workers
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
Which of the following situations best illustrates the word toil?
The spring runoff made the narrow river unusually high, whirling, and murky.
Unless you have exact change, you will need a special card to drive over the bridge.
We bought a new shower curtain and mat to liven up the dark, dingy bathroom.
All day long, the landscapers dug holes, planted bushes, and scattered mulch.
dentify the choice that best answers the question.
If a woman digs through her purse frantically, which of the following is most likely true? Base your answer on the meaning of frantically.
She behaves in a way meant to amuse her companions.
She suggests that the purse does not really belong to her.
She searches for her belongings in a slow, careful way.
She panics when she does not find what she seeks.
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
When the narrator of the selection from The Grapes of Wrath says, “You’re not buying only junk, you’re buying junked lives,” what does he mean?
Those who buy others' junk have little meaning in their lives.
The people who owned the junk have lives that now seem worthless.
Only people with bad taste would accumulate and sell such rubbish.
The value of junk is only clear to those who learn to appreciate it.
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
In the excerpt from The Grapes of Wrath, what does the narrator think will happen to the characters who buy his belongings?
They will suffer a similar fate.
They will regret their cheapness.
They will never use what they buy.
They will have better luck in life.
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
Which of these passages from the excerpt from The Grapes of Wrath best supports the answer to question 10?
Well, take it—all junk—and give me five dollars. You're not buying only junk, you're buying junked lives. And more—you'll see—you're buying bitterness.
Now, what'll you give for the team and wagon? Those fine bays, matched they are, matched in color, matched the way they walk, stride to stride.
How much? Ten dollars? For both? And the wagon . . . I'd shoot 'em for dog feed first. Oh, take ‘em! Take ‘em quick, mister.
We could have saved you, but you cut us down, and soon you will be cut down and there'll be none of us to save you.
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
In the excerpt from The Grapes of Wrath, how does the narrator feel about his upcoming journey?
calm
thrilled
discouraged
unconcerned
Which of these passages from the excerpt from The Grapes of Wrath best supports the answer to question 12?
In the little houses the tenant people sifted their belongings and the belongings of their fathers and of their grandfathers.
This land, this red land, is us; and the flood years and the dust years and the drought years are us. We can't start again.
Right up the sides of the trailer, and the kids can set in the trailer, and granma on a mattress.
And the children—if Sam takes his Indian bow an' his long roun' stick, I get to take two things.
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
Read this passage from the excerpt from The Grapes of Wrath.
How’ll it be not to know what land’s outside the door? How if you wake up in the night and know—and know the willow tree’s not there?
Can you live without the willow tree? Well, no, you can’t. The willow tree is you.
What does the willow tree represent to the narrator?
his lost childhood dreams
a new life in another place
a love of the outdoors
his personal history
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
What does this passage from the excerpt from The Grapes of Wrath show about the setting of the story?
Can’t sell a hand plow any more. Fifty cents for the weight of the metal. Disks and tractors,
that’s the stuff now.
It is set during a time when most people plow the land by hand.
It is set in a place where it is easy to make money restoring tools.
It is set during a time when farming equipment is not worth much.
It is set in a place that sells affordable farming equipment and tools.
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
What does this passage from the excerpt from The Grapes of Wrath most likely reveal about the cultural context of the story?
Maybe we can start again, in the new rich land …. We’ll start over.
People hoped they could find a better life.
People preferred the safety of staying put.
People made suggestions but never acted.
People loved embarking on new adventures.
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
What theme is suggested by this passage from the excerpt from The Grapes of Wrath?
To California or any place—every one a drum major leading a parade of hurts, marching with our bitterness.
Bitterness is never the answer to one's troubles.
We can escape bitterness if we go to new places.
People need to rise above their petty problems.
Everybody carries personal pain throughout life
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
What impression does the underlined word give about the tenant men in this sentence from the excerpt from The Grapes of Wrath?
The tenant men scuffed home to the farms through the red dust.
It suggests the men are full of energy.
It suggests the men are rushing to get home.
It suggests the men have a purposeful stride.
It suggests the men move without enthusiasm.
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
In the excerpt from The Grapes of Wrath, to what sense does the phrase “red dust” appeal?
sight
taste
smell
touch
dentify the choice that best answers the question.
Part A
Read the following passage from the exerpt from The Grapes of Wrath.
Those fine bays, matched they are, matched in color, matched the way they walk, stride to stride…. And in the morning, the light on them, bay light. They look over the fence sniffing for us, and the stiff ears swivel to hear us, and the black forelocks! I’ve got a girl. She likes to braid the manes and forelocks, puts little red bows on them…. Off horse is eight, near is ten, but might have been twin colts the way they work together. See? The teeth. Sound all over. Deep lungs. Feet fair and clean…. Take ’em quick, mister. You’re buying a little girl plaiting the forelocks, taking off her hair ribbon to make bows, standing back, head cocked, rubbing the soft noses with her cheek.
What impression of the horses does this imagery create?
The horses are beloved by the farmer's family.
The horses are hard workers on the farm.
The horses like to have their manes braided.
The horses cost a lot of money at the market.
Which words in the excerpt in
question 21 most clearly reinforce this impression of the horses?
matched they are, matched in color
.They look over the fence sniffing for us
Off horse is eight, near is ten
rubbing the soft noses with her cheek
