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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the landlady tell her tenant not to do?

2. What is the name of the narrator's Russian friend?

3. What do Boris and the narrator try to pawn?

4. Why is the patron impressed with the narrator?

5. What kind of slave does the narrator say the plongeur is?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the Russian society in chapter 8.

2. How does the narrator express how tired he is in chapter 16?

3. Why does the narrator believe that people are kept in poverty?

4. How does Charlie save the day in chapter 18?

5. In what way does the narrator's life get better in chapter 17?

6. Describe the narrator's Saturday nights.

7. What illusion does the narrator say the success of the restaurant destroys in chapter 21?

8. How is poverty affecting the narrator's life?

9. How does the narrator describe waiters in chapter 14?

10. Describe Boris and the narrator's interview at the Auberge.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How did the conditions of such places as the spikes strip the tramps of their humanity? Did people genuinely felt the tramps were less than human? How did the tramps feel about being helped by people who saw them as nothing? Did it make their situation even the more humiliating?

Essay Topic 2

Down and Out in Paris and London is a semi-autobiographical novel, adhering to the rule, writers should always write about what they know. Do you think it is obvious that Orwell knows his subject? What difference do you think it makes to the story? Are there any moments where you think Orwell does not portray a character or setting so well? What affect does it have on the story?

Essay Topic 3

Examine the following statement "A plongeur is a slave, and a wasted slave, doing stupid and largely unnecessary work." Using examples from the text write an essay either supporting or arguing against the statement.

(see the answer keys)

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