East of Eden, Chapter 44 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Why does Abra begin spending afternoons at the Trask house?

   • Lee has offered her paid kitchen work
   • Correct answer: Aron has gone away to college at Stanford
   • Her parents asked her to look in on Adam
   • She wants Cal to help her with schoolwork

   After Aron leaves for Stanford, the closed pair they had made is broken and Abra attaches herself to the rest of the Trasks, coming after school to sit with Lee.

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2. 2

   Question 2. How does Abra describe the girl Aron has made of her?

   • He copies the way Lee talks about women
   • He writes as if she were already his wife
   • Correct answer: He made someone up and put Abra's skin on her
   • He catalogs every fault he wants her to fix

   Abra tells Lee that Aron has made someone up and put her skin on that invention, a purely white figure she cannot live as.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What does Lee finally tell Abra about Mrs. Trask?

   • Mrs. Trask died years ago
   • Adam forbade him to speak of her
   • He has never heard of Mrs. Trask
   • Correct answer: Mrs. Trask is still alive

   After dodging the question and claiming he did not hear it, Lee answers yes when Abra asks again whether Mrs. Trask is alive.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What does Cal hand Lee in the kitchen?

   • Correct answer: A check covering the loan plus interest
   • A list of guests for Thanksgiving dinner
   • A letter Aron sent home from Stanford
   • A key to the locked dining-room closet

   Cal gives Lee a check for the borrowed money plus interest Lee did not ask for, and he will not yet say where the money came from.

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5. 5

   Question 5. How much money does Cal say he has for his father's present?

   • Fifteen hundred dollars
   • Fifty thousand dollars
   • Correct answer: Fifteen thousand dollars
   • Five thousand dollars

   When Lee asks if he really has the money, Cal says fifteen thousand dollars and that he did not steal it. He means to give it at Thanksgiving.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What does Abra ask Cal on the walk after school?

   • Whether he will give Aron her letters
   • Whether Lee told him her kitchen secret
   • Whether Adam knows about the money yet
   • Correct answer: Whether he goes out late to bad houses

   Abra asks if it is true that Cal goes out late at night to bad houses. He says yes, and she answers that she is not good either.

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7. 7

   Question 7. Why does Abra hope Aron will not become a minister?

   • Lee has said the church would ruin Aron
   • Correct answer: He goes all one way and cannot see her truly
   • She wants him home to run the ranch instead
   • Her father has forbidden a clergyman husband

   Abra says Aron goes all one way: if it is church it has to be high church, and he has been talking about priests not marrying. That same absolutism turns her into a white ghost.

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8. 8

   Question 8. How does Lee describe himself when Abra asks about Mrs. Trask?

   • Correct answer: A tired, cowardly servant who will not meddle
   • A father bound to protect Aron's feelings
   • A guest who should keep out of family talk
   • A scholar who has earned the right to speak

   Lee says he is a servant, old, Chinese, tired, and cowardly, and that he will not put his finger in any human pie. He still answers yes when she asks again.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these events actually occur in Chapter 44?

   • Abra asks Lee whether Mrs. Trask is alive.

     Happened

     The steak pounding stops, and Abra asks Lee outright, "Is Mrs. Trask alive?"

   • Lee at first claims he did not hear her question.

     Happened

     When Abra insists she asked him a question, Lee says softly that he did not hear one and that she did not ask one.

   • Lee tells Abra that Mrs. Trask is dead.

     Didn't happen

     Lee never says she is dead; when Abra asks again whether she is alive, he answers yes.

   • Aron comes home from Stanford during the kitchen scene.

     Didn't happen

     Aron stays at Stanford writing his daily letters; it is Cal who comes into the kitchen, grinning, with a check for Lee.

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10. 10

    Question 10. Which of these events actually occur later in the chapter?

    • Cal says he has fifteen thousand dollars for Adam.

      Happened

      Cal tells Lee he has fifteen thousand dollars, a present for his father that he means to give at Thanksgiving, and says he came by it honestly.

    • Abra tells Cal she is not good either.

      Happened

      When Cal will not say why he goes to bad houses, Abra asks whether it is because he is bad and then says she is not good either.

    • Cal denies going out to bad houses.

      Didn't happen

      Cal admits it is true that he goes out late at night to bad houses and asks whether Aron told her.

    • Abra says she hopes Aron will become a minister.

      Didn't happen

      In Lee's kitchen Abra says the opposite, "I hope he doesn't," and is astonished at having said it.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does "rubbled" mean as used in: "Lee rubbled a piece of cracker"?

    • Soaked it in a cooling cup of tea
    • Correct answer: Crumbled or crushed it into bits
    • Hid it under the kitchen napkin
    • Offered it across the table

    Steinbeck uses rubbled as a verb for crumbling the cracker while Abra tries to explain that Aron wants a white ghost, not her.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does "musing" mean as used in: "Lee, musing through her talk, thought of the round smooth faces"?

    • Correct answer: Thinking in a drifting, reflective way
    • Amusing himself with a quiet, private joke
    • Scolding her for talking too long
    • Taking notes on what she confessed

    Musing means thinking reflectively. Lee's mind wanders out and back like a ranging dog while Abra talks and his hands keep working.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does "predatory" mean as used in: "the iron predatory faces of the Manchus"?

    • Shy about being looked at closely
    • Soft, round, and moon-shaped
    • Correct answer: Fierce, hunting, and unyielding
    • Tired from long kitchen work

    Lee contrasts Cantonese moon faces with the iron predatory faces of the Manchus, arrogant faces of a people who had authority by inheritance.

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