Animal Farm, Chapter II quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. What event directly triggers the animals' rebellion against Mr. Jones?

   • Correct answer: Jones and his men attack the animals with whips after they break into the store-shed out of hunger
   • Snowball organizes a planned military assault after months of secret preparation and training
   • Moses the raven convinces the animals that Sugarcandy Mountain can only be reached through a revolt
   • Old Major delivers a rousing speech urging the animals to overthrow their human masters

   The Rebellion happens without any plan when Jones, who has been drinking heavily, leaves the animals unfed. After one of the cows breaks in the door of the store-shed and Jones and his four men lash out with whips, all the animals fight back and drive the humans from the farm.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Which pig is described as 'not much of a talker' but with 'a reputation for getting his own way'?

   • Old Major, the prize-winning boar whose dream of rebellion inspires the creation of Animalism
   • Snowball, the vivacious pig who is quicker in speech and more inventive than Napoleon
   • Squealer, the small porker whose persuasive speech can make black appear white to any listener
   • Correct answer: Napoleon, the large, rather fierce-looking boar who is the only Berkshire on the farm

   Napoleon is introduced as "a large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar, the only Berkshire on the farm," who is not much of a talker but has a reputation for getting his own way.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What do the pigs name the system of thought they build from Old Major's teachings?

   • Farmism, a practical program focused on collective agricultural labor and shared resources
   • Creaturism, a doctrine asserting the natural superiority of animals over human beings
   • Correct answer: Animalism, a complete system of thought developed by the pigs from Old Major's vision
   • Majorism, a philosophy honoring the deceased boar who first articulated the dream of freedom

   Snowball, Napoleon and Squealer elaborate old Major's teachings "into a complete system of thought, to which they gave the name of Animalism," and teach it to the others at secret meetings in the barn.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What is the seventh and final commandment of Animalism?

   • No animal shall wear clothes
   • Correct answer: All animals are equal
   • No animal shall drink alcohol
   • All animals are comrades

   The seventh and last of the Seven Commandments painted on the end wall of the big barn reads "All animals are equal." "No animal shall wear clothes" is the third and "No animal shall drink alcohol" the fifth; that all animals are comrades was old Major's call in Chapter I, not a Commandment.

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5. 5

   Question 5. Why does Mollie resist the principles of Animalism?

   • Correct answer: She fears losing personal luxuries like sugar lumps and the ribbons she wears in her mane
   • She believes that Mr. Jones is a kind master who deserves the animals' continued loyalty
   • She believes Moses's tales and would rather wait for her reward in Sugarcandy Mountain
   • She thinks the rebellion will fail and the animals will face severe punishment from the humans

   Mollie's very first question to Snowball is "Will there still be sugar after the Rebellion?" and she next asks whether she may still wear ribbons in her mane. She agrees with Snowball's answer, "but she did not sound very convinced."

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6. 6

   Question 6. What significant skill have the pigs secretly acquired before the rebellion takes place?

   • They have mastered the use of tools and farm equipment by watching Jones and his farmhands
   • They have memorized military tactics from old books to prepare for armed conflict with humans
   • They have learned to understand human speech by listening to Mr. Jones and his men
   • Correct answer: They have taught themselves to read and write from an old spelling book found on the rubbish heap

   The pigs reveal that during the past three months they taught themselves to read and write from an old spelling book that had belonged to Mr. Jones's children and been thrown on the rubbish heap. Snowball, the best at writing, then paints ANIMAL FARM on the gate and the Seven Commandments on the barn wall.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What happens to the five buckets of milk at the end of Chapter II?

   • The animals distribute the milk equally among all the creatures living on Animal Farm
   • Correct answer: Napoleon tells the animals to focus on the harvest, and the milk mysteriously disappears
   • Snowball suggests mixing the milk into the animals' mash so everyone benefits from it
   • The milk is poured on the ground as a symbolic rejection of the humans' dairy farming practices

   Napoleon places himself in front of the buckets and cries, "Never mind the milk, comrades!" When the animals come back from the hayfield in the evening, "it was noticed that the milk had disappeared." The chapter does not say where it went.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What does Moses the raven tell the animals that the pigs have to argue hard against?

   • Warnings about the dangers of abandoning traditional farm life under the protection of Mr. Jones
   • Accounts of his travels to distant lands where animals and humans live together in perfect harmony
   • Correct answer: Stories about Sugarcandy Mountain, a paradise where animals go after death and never work again
   • Tales of other farms where rebellions failed and the animals were punished severely by their masters

   Moses claims to know of "a mysterious country called Sugarcandy Mountain, to which all animals went when they died," where it is Sunday seven days a week. The pigs have to argue very hard to persuade the animals that there is no such place.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of the following events actually happens in Chapter II of Animal Farm?

   • Napoleon delivers a long speech explaining why the pigs deserve to lead the other animals
   • Mr. Jones peacefully surrenders the farm after the animals present their list of grievances
   • Snowball leads a carefully planned midnight assault on the farmhouse to capture Jones
   • Correct answer: The animals throw the whips, halters and reins on to the rubbish fire burning in the yard

   After Jones is driven out, the bits, nose-rings, dog-chains and knives are flung down the well, and the reins, halters, blinkers, nosebags and whips are thrown on to the rubbish fire burning in the yard.

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10. 10

    Question 10. Which of the following does NOT happen in Chapter II?

    • The animals pass a unanimous resolution that the farmhouse be preserved as a museum
    • Correct answer: Napoleon organizes the animals into formal military battalions to prepare for the rebellion
    • Snowball paints the Seven Commandments in large white letters on the barn wall
    • Old Major dies peacefully in his sleep three nights after delivering his visionary speech

    The Rebellion breaks out with nothing of the kind planned beforehand, so there are no battalions. Old Major's death, the resolution to keep the farmhouse as a museum, and Snowball's painting of the Seven Commandments all happen in Chapter II.

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11. 11

    Question 11. In the context of Animal Farm, what does the word 'comrade' signify when the animals use it?

    • Correct answer: A friend and equal who shares in a common cause, as every animal on the farm is meant to be
    • A specific military rank assigned to animals who demonstrated bravery during the rebellion
    • A title of respect reserved exclusively for the pig leadership of Animal Farm
    • An old farming term meaning 'work partner' that Jones had previously used for his draft horses

    A comrade is a companion and equal who shares a common cause. Snowball uses the word for every animal, even Mollie: "Comrade," he tells her, "those ribbons that you are so devoted to are the badge of slavery."

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does 'unalterable' mean when the Seven Commandments are described as 'unalterable law'?

    • Laws that apply only during the current generation and may be revised by future animal leaders
    • Laws that are open to democratic amendment if a majority of the animals vote to change them
    • Correct answer: Laws that are unchangeable and permanent, meant to govern Animal Farm forever without modification
    • Laws that must be recited aloud every morning to ensure all animals remember their obligations

    The word 'unalterable' means unable to be changed. The pigs explain that the Seven Commandments will be the law "by which all the animals on Animal Farm must live for ever after."

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does the word "apathy" mean when the pigs first find that they "met with much stupidity and apathy"?

    • Correct answer: A lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern about something
    • A strong feeling of anger or open hostility toward someone
    • A deep feeling of sympathy and sorrow for another's suffering
    • A state of confusion caused by not understanding something

    "Apathy" means a lack of interest or concern. When the pigs first expound Animalism at the secret meetings, "they met with much stupidity and apathy"; some animals ask why they should care what happens after they are dead.

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