Grapes of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath Reading Quizzes

Chapter 1

Questions
1. In what state does the novel open?
2. What time of year is it?
3. What is the weather like?
4. What kind of landscape does Steinbeck describe?
5. Who or what inhabits this landscape?

Answers
1. Oklahoma
2. Spring
3. Stormy; beginning to clear up
4. The countryside/a rural landscape
5. Men, women, children, horses, etc.

Chapter 2

Questions
1. What kind of vehicle stands in front the roadside restaurant?
2. What does the sticker on the vehicle’s windshield say?
3. What is the condition of the hitchhiker’s clothes?
4. What is the hitchhiker’s name?
5. What crime does the hitchhiker say he committed?

Answers
1. A red truck
2. No Riders
3. They are all new
4. Tom Joad
5. Homicide

Chapter 3

Questions
1. What grows along the highway?
2. What animal does Steinbeck describe in this chapter?
3. What does the animal crawl over?
4. What happens when the animal crawls onto the highway?
5. What happens when a truck approaches?
Answers
1. Tangled, dry grass
2. A turtle
3. A concrete wall
4. A woman driving a sedan sees it and swerves to avoid it
5. It knocks the turtle off the highway

Chapter 4

Questions
1. When Joad sees the turtle, what does he do?
2. What is the man under the tree doing?
3. What was Jim Casy’s profession?
4. What are Joad’s religious views (if any)?
5. Where has Joad been for four years?

Answers
1. He picks it up and takes it with him
2. Singing
3. He was a preacher
4. He seems to be an atheist or agnostic. He doesn’t have much use for religion. The preacher calls him "godless."
5. In prison (McAlester)

Chapter 5

Questions
1. How does Steinbeck describe the Bank/Company?
2. What does the Bank tell the squatters?
3. What arguments do the squatters use against the Bank?
4. Where does the Bank say the squatters should go?