East of Eden, Chapter 31 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Why does Adam refuse to send Kate the news about Charles by mail?

   • He wants to see how she runs her house before he tells the lawyers anything
   • He is afraid that someone else in her house would open and read a letter
   • Correct answer: He cannot take the evasive route and says something always pulls him back
   • He needs her signature on the lawyers' documents and must witness it himself

   Adam tells Lee he thought in all directions and was snapped back each time, and Lee agrees Adam cannot be dishonest in that particular way.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What does Adam do first when he is shown into Kate's dining room?

   • Correct answer: He lays the letter on top of her open account book
   • He sits down and waits for her to speak to him
   • He explains the contents of the lawyers' letter aloud
   • He asks the doorman to leave them alone together

   He says nothing at all, walks to the table, and puts the letter down on the account book, letting the document do the talking.

   Read the passage
3. 3

   Question 3. How much does Kate offer to take in cash to be bought off?

   • Ten thousand
   • Correct answer: Forty-five thousand
   • Fifty-five thousand
   • One hundred thousand

   Kate assumes a negotiation is underway and names forty-five thousand in cash. Adam answers no and says he is not bargaining at all.

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4. 4

   Question 4. Who does Kate assume must be coaching Adam?

   • His neighbor Will Hamilton
   • The lawyers who wrote the letter
   • The old sheriff of the county
   • Correct answer: Lee, whom she calls smart

   She cannot believe Adam devised this himself and asks about Lee, who she says is smart. Adam replies that Lee gave him no advice.

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5. 5

   Question 5. What emotion does Adam catch on Kate's face that he has never seen there before?

   • Amusement
   • Correct answer: Fear
   • Boredom
   • Grief

   He surprises fear on her face and realizes she is afraid of him, though he cannot tell why.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What comparison does Adam use to describe what is missing in Kate?

   • A clock that has stopped in the night
   • A person who has never learned to read
   • Correct answer: A man who cannot see the color green
   • A traveler who has lost the road home

   He says some men cannot see the color green and may never know it, making her blindness to goodness a missing faculty rather than a choice.

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7. 7

   Question 7. Why does Liza Hamilton send Adam to see her daughter Dessie?

   • Correct answer: Dessie's town house may come free if she moves back to the ranch
   • Dessie can sew new clothes for the twins before they start school in town
   • Dessie knows every family that rents out rooms in Salinas
   • Dessie is handling the settlement of Samuel's estate for the family

   Liza mentions that Dessie wants to move back to the ranch with Tom, so her little house next to the bakery may become available.

   Read the passage
8. 8

   Question 8. How does Will Hamilton react to the news that Dessie plans to move back to the ranch?

   • He says the decision is entirely their mother's to make
   • He says it will be good for both Dessie and Tom
   • He offers to drive her out there in one of his cars
   • Correct answer: He says flatly that she cannot do it and he will not let her

   Will puts down his knife and fork and refuses outright, then covers by calling it a waste of a good dressmaking business and stops talking.

   Read the passage
9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these events actually occur during Adam's visit to Kate?

   • Adam hands Kate the lawyers' letter about Charles's bequest.

     Happened

     Without a word, Adam walks to the table and lays the letter on top of Kate's account book, and she reads it quickly.

   • Kate offers Adam a cash settlement to be bought off.

     Happened

     Kate asks whether Adam wants to know what it will take to buy her off and names forty-five thousand in cash; Adam says no.

   • Kate signs papers accepting the money before Adam leaves.

     Didn't happen

     Kate says Adam is wasting his time if he wants her to sign anything, and she signs nothing; she keeps the letter instead.

   • Adam threatens to have Kate run out of the county.

     Didn't happen

     It is Kate who brings up an order she says the old sheriff left, to float her out of the county if she ever uses Adam's name; Adam threatens nothing.

   • Kate keeps the letter and says she will get legal advice.

     Happened

     Kate puts the letter in her account book, closes the cover, and says she will keep it and get legal advice.

   Read the passage
10. 10

    Question 10. Which of these happen during Adam's evening in Salinas?

    • Adam pays a call on Liza Hamilton at Olive's house.

      Happened

      Adam walks to Ernest Steinbeck's house on Central Avenue, where Olive lets him in to see Liza in her room.

    • Liza asks Adam to go and see her son Tom.

      Happened

      As Adam is leaving, Liza asks whether he ever sees Tom and says she thinks Tom is lonely.

    • Adam rides out to the ranch to visit Tom before his train.

      Didn't happen

      Adam promises to see Tom but does not go in this chapter; he eats dinner in Salinas and says he is catching the eight o'clock home.

    • Will Hamilton walks over with Adam to see his mother.

      Didn't happen

      Will tells Adam he did not go to see his mother because it gets her excited, and he has to go right back.

    • Adam has dinner with Will Hamilton at a chop house.

      Happened

      Adam finds Will eating a rib steak at the San Francisco Chop House, sits with him, and orders a rib steak himself.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does 'floater' mean as Kate uses it in: "I'll get a floater out of the county and out of the state"?

    • A loan taken out against a piece of property
    • A witness who changes their testimony for money
    • A rumor spread to damage a person's reputation
    • Correct answer: An order forcing an undesirable person to leave town

    A floater was a period term for an order from law officers driving someone out of the area, which Kate says the old sheriff's standing order holds over her if she ever uses Adam's name.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does 'ribald' mean in: "he had lived a ribald life and acquired the vigorous speech of a ship's fo'c'sle"?

    • Correct answer: Coarsely and irreverently humorous
    • Lonely and cut off from company
    • Strictly proper and pious in speech
    • Wealthy beyond ordinary means

    Ribald describes crude, irreverent humor, which explains why the parrot swears instead of reciting the psalms Liza would prefer.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does 'gallantry' mean in: "Adam began to feel a warm admiration for her iron gallantry"?

    • Old-fashioned formality in conversation
    • Correct answer: Courageous and dignified bearing under hardship
    • Generosity with money toward relatives
    • A talent for charming strangers quickly

    Gallantry here means brave, dignified endurance. Liza defends country childhoods and her family while she holds back her grief.

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