East of Eden, Chapter 24 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Why has Samuel Hamilton come to the Trask ranch in Chapter 24?

   • Correct answer: To say goodbye before he leaves the valley for good
   • To collect payment for the windmills he built there
   • To warn Adam that his twin sons are in danger
   • To ask Adam for work building the flower garden

   Samuel is making formal farewell calls before going to Salinas, and he saves the Trask place for last.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Why has Lee cut off his queue?

   • He is tired of the twins teasing him about his hair
   • He wants to look more American to the Trasks' neighbors
   • Correct answer: The Manchu rulers are gone and the requirement has ended
   • Samuel talked him into doing it on an earlier visit

   Lee tells Samuel the Dowager Empress is gone, China is free, and no Chinese man wears a queue any longer.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What does Samuel mean when he calls Adam a fallow man?

   • That Adam has spent his inheritance keeping the ranch
   • That Adam has become cruel toward his own sons
   • That Adam has grown physically weak as he has aged
   • Correct answer: That Adam has left his life, like his land, unused

   Samuel links the unplanted acres to the unlived life beside them and asks whether Adam takes pride in his hurt.

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4. 4

   Question 4. How did Lee arrive at the translation of timshel as Thou mayest?

   • Samuel worked it out for him from the King James text
   • Correct answer: Elders of his family association studied Hebrew with a rabbi
   • A missionary he met in San Francisco supplied the reading
   • He found the reading in a footnote of a new Bible

   Four elderly scholars of the Lee family association engaged a learned rabbi and spent two years on Hebrew before reaching timshel.

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5. 5

   Question 5. According to Lee, how do the three renderings of the verb differ?

   • Thou shalt orders, Do thou promises, Thou mayest forbids a choice
   • All three are commands that differ only in their degree of force
   • Only the King James wording preserves the original Hebrew meaning
   • Correct answer: Thou shalt promises, Do thou orders, Thou mayest offers a choice

   Lee says the King James wording promises victory over sin, the American Standard wording commands it, and timshel leaves the outcome open.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What analogy does Samuel use to justify telling Adam about Cathy?

   • Correct answer: Chopping the tail off a dog that has swallowed poison
   • Burning over a field so that new grass can grow in it
   • Lancing an infected wound before the fever can spread
   • Setting a broken bone before it can heal crooked

   Samuel tells Lee the shock of pain can counteract the poison, and he accepts responsibility for the risk he is taking.

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7. 7

   Question 7. How does Adam react when Samuel tells him where Cathy is?

   • He thanks Samuel and asks for the address in Salinas
   • Correct answer: He calls Samuel a liar and then runs off into the dark
   • He says quietly that he had already guessed the truth
   • He strikes Samuel and orders him off the Trask property

   Adam denies it, Lee confirms that it is true, and Adam runs up the slope until the sound of him stops.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What does Samuel say about his old horse Doxology?

   • That Adam is right and shooting him would be a real mercy
   • That he chose him because he was the finest colt in the valley
   • Correct answer: That he never found one good thing in him, and loves him anyway
   • That he means to sell the animal before leaving for Salinas

   Samuel catalogues the horse's faults at length and then says he loves him, refusing Adam's suggestion of a mercy killing.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these events actually occur in Chapter 24?

   • Lee explains the meaning of timshel over dinner at the Trask house.

     Happened

     After the meal, over coffee and a Chinese liquor at the table, Lee tells how the old scholars of his family worked out that timshel means "Thou mayest."

   • Samuel tells Adam that Cathy is living in Salinas under the name Kate.

     Happened

     Samuel tells Adam that Cathy is in Salinas, that she owns a whorehouse, and that she is now called Kate.

   • Adam agrees to ride to Salinas with Samuel to confront Cathy.

     Didn't happen

     Adam calls Samuel a liar, hears Lee say it is true, and runs off up the slope into the dark; Samuel says he does not know what Adam will do.

   • Samuel accepts Adam's offer to build the flower garden together.

     Didn't happen

     Samuel says, "No, I will not do it," and tells Adam to go and see his son Tom, who will help him.

   • Lee rides part of the way in Samuel's cart and then walks back.

     Happened

     After Samuel hitches Doxology to the cart, Lee asks to ride along a little, climbs down when Samuel stops, and walks back along the road.

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10. 10

    Question 10. What does 'facile' mean as used in: 'your mind is as facile as a young lamb leaping in a daisy field'?

    • Stubborn, gripping hard to one idea
    • Correct answer: Nimble and quick, moving with ease
    • Precise about every small fact
    • Gentle and kind toward others

    Facile means moving with ease, quick and effortless. Lee says Samuel's mind leaps like a lamb and has never "taken a bulldog grip on anything."

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does 'contentious' mean as used in: 'Liza says I am contentious'?

    • Anxious in the company of strangers
    • Deeply satisfied with his life
    • Correct answer: Inclined to argue and quarrel
    • Careless in handling money

    Contentious means argumentative. Samuel offers it as Liza's word for his habit of stirring up debate.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does 'depraved' mean as used in: 'the most vicious and depraved in this whole end of the country'?

    • Correct answer: Morally corrupt and debased
    • Extremely expensive to enter
    • Poorly built and shabby
    • Difficult for strangers to find

    Depraved means morally corrupt. Samuel uses it to describe the house Cathy runs in Salinas.

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