John Henry quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Which genre best describes the story of John Henry?

   • Realistic Fiction
   • Correct answer: Tall Tale
   • Mystery
   • Science Fiction
   • Fairy Tale

   A Tall Tale is an American folk story with an exaggerated hero whose strength and deeds are wildly beyond what any real person could do. John Henry fits perfectly: he is born with a hammer, grows up to be the strongest man alive, and defeats a steam drill.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Why does John Henry agree to race the steam drill?

   • To win a large cash prize offered by the railroad boss
   • To prove he is stronger than every other man on the crew
   • Correct answer: To protect his fellow workers from losing their jobs to the machine
   • To become famous and have songs written about him

   When the stranger says the steam drill can replace half the workers, the whole crew goes quiet. John Henry steps forward to race the machine to protect his friends and their livelihoods — not for fame or money.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What does John Henry swing during the race?

   • One 30-pound hammer
   • One 20-pound hammer
   • Correct answer: Two 20-pound hammers, one in each hand
   • Two 10-pound hammers, one in each hand

   John Henry picks up a twenty-pound hammer in each hand and drives steel with both at the same time — one of the story's great tall-tale exaggerations.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What does "Shaker" mean in this story?

   • Correct answer: The worker who holds the drill against the rock for the hammer-swinger
   • The foreman who shakes hands with new workers on the railroad crew
   • A machine that vibrates rock to loosen it before drilling begins
   • The worker who carries water to keep the crew cool during long shifts

   A shaker held a long iron drill against the rock while the steel-driver hammered it deeper. It was dangerous work — one slip and the shaker could lose a hand.

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5. 5

   Question 5. What does baby John Henry say that hints at how the story will end?

   • He said he would grow up to be the strongest man on the railroad someday
   • Correct answer: He said a hammer would be the death of him
   • He said he would race a machine and win before he died
   • He said the railroad would carry his name from coast to coast

   The baby says clearly, "A hammer will be the death of me." This is foreshadowing — the story plants a clue right at the beginning about John Henry's fate, and the prediction comes true at the end of the race.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What were the final measurements when the six-hour race ended?

   • John Henry drilled nine feet; the steam drill drilled fourteen feet
   • John Henry drilled twelve feet; the steam drill also drilled twelve feet
   • John Henry drilled ten feet; the steam drill drilled seven feet
   • Correct answer: John Henry drilled fourteen feet; the steam drill drilled nine feet

   After six hours of drilling, John Henry had driven fourteen feet of rock while the steam drill had only managed nine feet. John Henry won the race — but the effort cost him his life.

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7. 7

   Question 7. Who is Polly Ann, and what does she do at the end of the race?

   • Correct answer: Polly Ann, John Henry's wife, who holds him as he passes away
   • Polly Ann, John Henry's sister, who cheers for him from the tunnel entrance
   • Polly Ann, the railroad boss's wife, who judges the fairness of the contest
   • Polly Ann, John Henry's mother, who warned him not to race the machine

   Polly Ann is John Henry's wife. She stands at the front of the crowd during the race holding their young son, and when John Henry sits down after winning, she runs to him and holds him as he passes away.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What are John Henry's last words?

   • He asked Polly Ann to tell the men to keep singing his song
   • Correct answer: He asked Polly Ann for a cool drink of water
   • He asked the boss to promise the men would keep their jobs
   • He asked someone to bring his hammers home to his children

   John Henry looks up at Polly Ann and whispers, "Bring me a cool drink of water." It is a quiet, human moment at the end of a larger-than-life story.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which detail from the story is the best example of hyperbole?

   • Correct answer: By age six he could lift a bale of cotton all by himself, and by ten he was pulling stumps from the ground
   • He went to work on the railroad when he grew up to be a man
   • The boss decided the crew had to dig straight through the mountain, not around it
   • Workers sang songs while they hammered to help the time pass during long shifts

   Hyperbole is extreme exaggeration for effect. A six-year-old lifting bales and a ten-year-old yanking tree stumps are impossible feats — classic tall-tale hyperbole that signals this is a legend, not history.

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10. 10

    Question 10. What is the main theme of the story of John Henry?

    • Machines are always stronger than people, and it is foolish to compete with technology
    • Hard work always leads to a long, healthy, and successful life in the end
    • Correct answer: A person's courage and dignity can outlast any machine
    • The best way to protect workers is to destroy new technology before it spreads

    The steam drill broke down and was sold for scrap, but John Henry's song has been sung for over 150 years. The story's theme is that human courage and dignity have a power that outlasts any machine — even if the person does not.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does "Dynamite" mean in this story?

    • A thick paste used to seal cracks in tunnel walls after drilling is finished
    • The black powder burned in a lantern to light the inside of a dark tunnel
    • A heavy iron tool attached to the end of the shaker's drill rod
    • Correct answer: An explosive packed into drilled holes to blast through solid rock

    Once the drill had cut a deep hole in the rock, workers packed dynamite into it. The explosion would break apart the stone, letting the crew dig farther into the mountain.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does the hammer symbolize in the story?

    • The danger and destruction that comes with working on the railroad
    • Correct answer: John Henry's identity, strength, and lifelong purpose as a working man
    • The railroad company's power over the lives of ordinary workers
    • The divide between those who own machines and those who work with their hands

    John Henry is born with a hammer and dies with one still in his hand. The hammer represents who he is — his strength, his pride, and his whole life's purpose. It connects his first moment to his last.

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13. 13

    Question 13. Which of these events actually happened in the story?

    • John Henry was born already holding a tiny hammer.

      Happened

      His mama holds him up in the firelight and sees a real hammer — wooden handle, iron head — already in his tiny fist. This is the story's first tall-tale detail.

    • As a baby, John Henry predicted that a hammer would be the death of him.

      Happened

      Baby John Henry says clearly, "A hammer will be the death of me." His mama tells him to hush, but neither of them ever forgets it.

    • The boss decided to go around the mountain instead of through it.

      Didn't happen

      The boss looks up at the mountain and says, "We have to go through — not around. Through." That is why the Big Bend Tunnel project begins.

    • The stranger said his steam drill could replace half the workers.

      Happened

      The stranger tells the boss that with the steam drill, he can "fire half your workers." That threat of job loss is exactly why John Henry steps forward to race the machine.

    • The race lasted eight hours.

      Didn't happen

      The race lasted six hours, not eight. At the end of the sixth hour, the judges called time and measured both holes.

    • John Henry won the race against the steam drill.

      Happened

      John Henry drilled fourteen feet of rock in six hours. The steam drill only managed nine feet. John Henry won — but the effort caused his heart to give out.

    • John Henry died because the steam drill injured him during the race.

      Didn't happen

      John Henry was not hurt by the machine. He worked so hard and so fast that his own big heart gave out — just as he had predicted as a baby.

    • The steam drill was eventually sold for scrap.

      Happened

      After the race, years passed and the steam drill broke down and was sold for scrap. But the song about John Henry kept going — sung by coal miners and railroad men for generations.

    • Polly Ann was watching the race from far back in the crowd.

      Didn't happen

      Polly Ann stood at the front of the crowd, holding their little boy, so she could see everything. When John Henry sat down after winning, she ran straight to him.

    • The story says that today you can still hear John Henry's hammer ringing near old railroad tunnels.

      Happened

      The story ends by saying that near an old tunnel on a quiet night, you might hear a faint clang, clang, clang — and the old folks say it is John Henry, still swinging his hammer.

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14. 14

    Question 14. What historical evidence suggests John Henry may have been a real person?

    • A famous newspaper article printed in 1873 reported on the race between John Henry and a steam drill
    • A painting made in the 1870s shows John Henry drilling at the Big Bend Tunnel
    • The railroad company kept records showing John Henry earned the highest wages of any worker
    • Correct answer: Prison records from the 1870s mention a John William Henry who worked on the C&O Railway

    In 2006, historian Scott Reynolds Nelson found prison records for a 19-year-old named John William Henry who worked on a tunnel project for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in the 1870s. This is the strongest evidence that a real person inspired the legend.

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