Workable Quiz

Think you’re in tune with pop culture’s image of the workplace? Test your knowledge of the career world’s changing landscape.

James Brown had it right. Everybody’s working overtime when they’re “Living in America.” Our national tattoo should read: “Live to work. Work to live.” Take this quiz to test your knowledge of the pop-culture workplace and the working stiffs of stage, screen and print.

1) In Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 novel “Gone With the Wind,” Scarlett O’Hara transforms herself from tight-laced Southern belle to tightfisted businesswoman after the Civil War. Name one of the occupations she pursues.

a) Lumber mill owner

b) Atlanta real estate agent

c) Drapery saleswoman

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2)Who mourns the passing of hell-raising centenarian Mary “Mother” Jones in the 1930s-era ballad “The Death of Mother Jones?”

a) The AARP

b) Her coal-mining union comrades

c) Her bail bondsman

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3) In the 1949 stage play “Death of a Salesman,” traveling salesman Willy Loman feels that his son Biff is wasting his time in a dead-end job. What is Biff’s occupation?

a) Mortuary assistant

b) Starbucks counterman

c) Farmhand

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4) When he wasn’t penning dog stories, socialist author Jack London wrote that “after God finished the rattlesnake, the toad, the vampire, he had some awful substance left with which he made . . . “

a) Bill Gates

b) IRS agents

c) Strikebreaking “scabs”

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5) In the 1961 stage play “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” ambitious young J. Pierrepont Finch climbs the company ladder at this enterprise.

a) World Wide Wicket Co.

b) Global Girdle & Garter Corp.

c) Seven Seas Suppositories Inc.

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6) In John Steinbeck’s 1937 novel “Of Mice and Men,” ranch hands George and Lennie dream of working with rabbits, not cattle. What occupations do they desire?

a) Farmers

b) Furriers

c) Taxidermists

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7) The great Lawrence, Mass., textile strike of 1912 inspired poet James Oppenheim to write this paean to the aspirations of working men and women everywhere.

a) “Bread and Circuses”

b) “Bread and Roses”

c) “Guns and Roses”

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8) In the 1945 film “Mildred Pierce,” gold-digging daughter Veda Pierce despises her entrepreneurial mother for making a living in a place where “everything smells of grease.” What business does Mildred Pierce own?

a) A pomade factory

b) An auto repair shop

c) A restaurant

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9) In the 1915 working-class ballad “Solidarity Forever,” what “makes us strong”?

a) A shot and a beer

b) Company-paid health insurance

c) The union

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10) In the 1945 Broadway musical “Carousel” village maiden Carrie Pipperidge is concerned that her future husband’s occupation might rub off on their marriage. That’s because her fiance, Enoch Snow, can’t rid himself of the smell of . . .

a) Fish

b) Manure

c) Kmart popcorn

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11) Which of these professionals regularly bellied up to the bar in the 1980s hit television sitcom “Cheers”?

a) Butcher, baker, candlestick maker

b) Doctor, lawyer, Indian chief

c) Accountant, postal worker, psychologist

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12) What, according to Rose Royce’s 1970s disco hit, is a good reason to work at the “Car Wash”? a) It’s better than digging a ditch

b) It’s always cool

c) The boss don’t mind sometimes if you act the fool

d) All of the above

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13) In the 1970 film starring Sean Connery, “The Molly Maguires” use extreme tactics to battle an oppressive employer. Who or what were the Molly Maguires?

a) Pennsylvania coal miners

b) A Hostess snack food

c) A women’s semi-professional baseball league

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14) What emerging industry is urged on Dustin Hoffman’s Benjamin Braddock character in the 1967 film “The Graduate?”

a) Plastics

b) Platforms

c) Polyester

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15) In the 1985 films “Lost in America,” Albert Brooks plays a Los Angeles advertising executive who is fired for insubordination. How does he respond to his termination?

a) He gets a gun and goes postal

b) He files a lawsuit and goes on a hunger strike

c) He buys a Winnebago and drops out of society

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16) Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell played out a contest of sexual and professional rivalry in their 1940 film “His Girl Friday.” Name their occupations.

a) Castaways

b) Newspaper reporters

c) Politicians

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17) You wouldn’t necessarily guess it from the hairstyle, but this cartoon character had a barber for a father.

a) Charlie Brown

b) Dennis the Menace

c) Nancy

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18) In this 1989 documentary film, agent provocateur Michael Moore turned stalking into an art form while exposing an auto makers’ neglect of a working-class community. Name the film.

a) “Fatal Attraction”

b) “Take This Job and Shove It”

c) “Roger & Me”

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19) In the 1985 song “Raspberry Beret,” the artist formally known as Prince sings about working part time in a five-and-dime. Why doesn’t the proprietor, Mr. McGee, like him very much?

a) He won’t stay out of the ladies’ lingerie aisle

b) Customers can’t read the symbol on his name tag

c) His work ethic is “too leisurely”

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20) In his 1937 novel “Flivver King,” crusading novelist Upton Sinclair blasted this auto titan for his ethical shortcomings. Who was this captain of industry?

a) Henry Ford

b) Preston Tucker

c) Earl Scheib

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Answer Key: 1. a 2. b 3. c 4. c 5. a 6. a 7. b 8. c 9. c 10. a 11. c 12. d

13. a 14. a 15. c 16. b 17. a 18. c 19. c 20. a

Score

10 or fewer: Don’t quit your day job.

10 to 15: Your labor mojo is working overtime.

15 or more: You oughta be a Springsteen anthem.