Happy 92nd Birthday to Jack Kerouac!

In honor of Jack Kerouac's 92nd birthday today, here is a quiz I gave my First Year Seminar class on Tuesday. It covers On the Road Part 3 Chapters 5-11 (classic edition, not The Scroll). I give quizzes to check on whether the students do the assigned reading; they aren't meant to be profound.

Scroll way down for answers and leave a comment about how you did. Oh, and for my students: If you were absent for the quiz, I wrote an alternate for you to take so don't bother memorizing the answers.

Rating:
10 correct = You know Jack
9 correct = You're no Memory Babe but not bad
8 correct = You're ready to head out "on the road"
7 correct = Much better than sheer guessing
6 correct = As close to flunking as you can get (by university standards)
5 correct = Fail (along with all the scores below)
4 correct = Good test-taking skills may have gotten you here
3 correct = Sheer guessing may be in play at this level
2 correct = No bragging rights for you
1 correct = This is really, really bad
0 correct = Wow, you really suck at On the Road knowledge and test-taking

Quiz

1. At the beginning of this section, Sal and Dean are:

A. leaving New York for Chicago

B. in Denver looking for Old Dean Moriarty

C. in New Orleans at Old Bull Lee’s

D. heading eastward from San Francisco

2. Sal gets really mad at Dean when they first get to Denver because:

A. Dean finds Marylou and they ditch Sal

B. Dean makes a crack that Sal thinks makes fun of his age

C. Dean has been driving too fast

D. Dean refuses to pay for his share of their room at the YMCA

3. Why does a mother living across the cornfield from the Okie family threaten to shoot Dean with a shotgun?

A. Dean has been repeatedly trying to make her daughter

B. Sal steals their corn and they mistake him for Dean in the dark

C. She is delusional and thinks Dean is her cheating husband

D. Dean steals a bag of grain out of her barn

4. What old habit does Dean return to when they are out and about in Denver?

A. knocking Marylou around

B. hustling pool

C. stealing cars

D. tagging alleyways with graffiti

5. What kind of travel-bureau car do they drive from Denver to Chicago?

A. a 1949 Hudson

B. a baby blue convertible

C. a brand new 1950 Ford Crestliner

D. a big black Cadillac

6. On their way out of Denver they stop at what kind of place owned by Ed Wall?

A. a hippie commune

B. a ranch

C. a casino

D. a brothel                                                                                                                                                        

7. Dean’s common top speed across Nebraska and Iowa seems to be:

A. 70 MPH

B. 80 MPH

C. 90 MPH

D. 110 MPH

8. While out in Chicago listening to jazz, what musician shows up who they consider to be “God”?

A. Louis Armstrong

B. Thelonius Monk

C. Dizzie Gillepsie

D. George Shearing

9. What are the consequences of returning the travel-bureau car covered in mud with no brakes, stove-in fenders, and rattling rods?

A. They have to borrow money from Sal’s aunt to pay for the damages

B. There are no consequences

C. They get thrown in jail

D. They have to work with a mechanic to fix the car.

10. In Detroit, rather than rent a room somewhere, Dean and Sal:

A. sleep under a railroad trestle

B. stay in a movie theater all night

C. rent a tent at the local campground

D. spend the night in a whorehouse

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ANSWERS:

1. D

2. B

3. A

4. C

5. D

6. B

7. D

8. D

9. B

10. B