East of Eden, Chapter 53 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. What present does Abra show Cal that she got for Lee?

   • Correct answer: A new kind of potato peeler
   • A box of strawberry tarts
   • A carved ebony jewelry box
   • A bunch of wild azaleas

   Abra opens a little cardboard box and shows Cal a new kind of potato peeler she got for Lee, the kind that takes off just the skin.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What does Adam tell Lee he now believes about his father?

   • That the old man served with Sam Hamilton
   • Correct answer: That the old man stole from the G.A.R.
   • That the old man was buried in Salinas
   • That the old man left the family nothing

   After a dream about his father, Adam says the man was a thief who stole from the G.A.R. Lee does not believe it and cites the Arlington clippings.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What does Lee give Abra from the carved ebony box?

   • A gold ring that belonged to Adam
   • A packet of Aron's old letters
   • A clipping about the funeral
   • Correct answer: A jade button carved with a hand

   Inside the ebony box, which has a dragon climbing toward heaven, is Lee's mother's only ornament: a dark green jade button carved with a human right hand in repose.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What has Abra done with all of Aron's letters?

   • Hid them in her room
   • Gave them all to Cal
   • Correct answer: Burned the whole bundle
   • Mailed them to camp

   When Lee says she is changed and no longer any part a little girl, Abra tells him she burned all of Aron's letters. Asked whether Aron did bad things to her, she says she guesses not; lately she never felt good enough.

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5. 5

   Question 5. Where does Abra agree to go with Cal when the wild azaleas bloom?

   • To Kate's grave with marigolds
   • To the skating rink on Main Street
   • To the draft board with Adam
   • Correct answer: To the Alisal, rain or shine

   Abra tells Lee that Cal asked her to go to the Alisal when the wild azaleas bloom and that she is going. Walking home, Cal says it will not be until spring, and Abra wants to take a lunch and go rain or shine.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What does Cal tell Tom Meek he did with the fifteen thousand dollars?

   • He banked it with Will Hamilton
   • He paid it over to Abra's father
   • Correct answer: He set a match to it and burned it
   • He gave it to Aron before he enlisted

   When Tom repeats Will Hamilton's story that Cal made fifteen thousand dollars in beans, Cal says he burned it up, just set a match to it and burned it. Tom thinks he is being kidded.

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7. 7

   Question 7. Which flowers does Cal end up thinking he had better put on his mother's grave?

   • Correct answer: Marigolds, the Nails of Death
   • Carnations, the Nails of Love
   • Wild azaleas from the Alisal
   • Roses from Berges's front yard

   Cal remembers carnations as Nails of Love and marigolds as the Nails of Death, then thinks he had better put marigolds on his mother's grave. He does not visit the grave in this chapter.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What does Lee mean by telling Abra she does not have to be perfect?

   • She should confess Kate to her parents
   • Correct answer: She can be good without being flawless
   • She should copy Aron's kind of purity
   • She must stop visiting the Trasks

   Abra says she never felt good enough for Aron and wanted to explain she was not good. Lee asks whether now that she does not have to be perfect, she can be good.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these events actually occur in Chapter 53?

   • Abra asks Cal to carry her books home after school.

     Happened

     Between classes Abra asks Cal, "Would you like to carry my books home?" and he says yes; that evening he walks her home carrying them.

   • Cal and Abra picnic among the wild azaleas at the Alisal.

     Didn't happen

     They only plan the trip: Cal has asked her to go to the Alisal when the wild azaleas bloom, and he tells her it will not be until spring.

   • Lee gives Abra his mother's dark green jade button.

     Happened

     Lee brings a small carved ebony box from his room and gives it to Abra; inside is a jade button, and he says, "That was my mother's only ornament."

   • Lee tells Abra's parents, in person, where Aron's money came from.

     Didn't happen

     Lee only hints that Abra might spread the news of Aron's inheritance by telephone, and when she asks whether he would say where the money came from, he answers, "That I would not."

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10. 10

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

    • Adam tells Lee that his father stole from the G.A.R.

      Happened

      After dreaming about his father, Adam says, "He was a thief," and that he stole from the G.A.R.; Lee says he does not believe it.

    • Cal finds Kate's grave and leaves a bunch of carnations.

      Didn't happen

      Cal only wonders where Kate is buried and thinks about taking flowers to her grave; he does not know where it is and does not go there.

    • Tom Meek falls into step with Cal outside Bell's candy store.

      Happened

      Tom Meek, the constable, comes out of Bell's candy store on Main Street and falls into step with Cal.

    • Adam sits down and finishes the cutout puzzle Lee offers him.

      Didn't happen

      Adam declines the cutout puzzle because he wants to think about his dream before he forgets it; when Lee brings breakfast, he is asleep in his chair.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does bravado mean as used in "swinging his arms with bravado"?

    • Correct answer: A bold show of confidence
    • A limp, exhausted shuffle
    • A carefully hidden limp
    • A formal military salute

    Bravado is a defiant display of courage. Adam is weak, yet he starts for the draft board swinging his arms with bravado after Lee wraps him up.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does astringent mean as used in "making the sharp, bitter-sweet smell pleasant and astringent"?

    • Rotten after the fruit boiled over
    • Faint enough to pass unnoticed now
    • Correct answer: Sharp and tightening in the senses
    • Sickly sweet and cloying in the air

    Astringent describes a sharp, tightening quality. Berries have boiled over in the oven, and the burned smell is bitter-sweet, pleasant, and astringent.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does repose mean as used in "the fingers curved and in repose"?

    • A pointed blessing
    • Correct answer: Rest or stillness
    • Anger or clenched force
    • A waving farewell

    Repose means rest. The jade button is carved with a human right hand whose fingers are curved and at rest, not grasping or pointing.

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