Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture

Reading Check questions are designed for in-class review on key plot points or for quick verbal or written assessments. Multiple Choice and Short Answer Quizzes create ideal summative assessments, and collectively function to convey a sense of the work’s tone and themes.

Introduction-Chapter 2

Reading Check

1. What is the “coolest thing” Vance has ever done, according to his Introduction?

2. How does Vance ethnically identify?

3. What is the difference between Vance’s “address” and Vance’s “home?”

4. Vance determines that “Jackson, like the Blanton men, is full of ____.” What is the missing word in this quote from Chapter 1?

5. Which two people are the best influences on Vance’s life?

6. What is the real reason Mamaw and Papaw left Jackson, according to their neighbor Bonnie South?

7. How is privacy viewed by families living in Jackson?

8. What is Mamaw’s dream career?

Multiple Choice

1. Why did Vance write his memoir?

A) to provide a guide for people interested in attending an Ivy League school

B) to comment on the woes of growing up in southwest America

C) to share his distaste in the lifestyle of “hillbillies” living in Alabama

D) to inform people of the triumphs and obstacles in his pursuit of the American dream

2. Which of the following words best summarizes Vance’s description of Mamaw and the Blanton men in Chapter 1?