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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. Where did costermongers usually live?

2. What percentage of people earning their living on the streets were vendors?

3. What did Ragmen do?

4. What did some of the bolder boys do?

5. Who did not usually bother to wash up even before eating or sleeping?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did dustmen and mudlarks help each other?

2. Where did orphan or runaway coster children live and how did they get money?

3. What area of trade did the Jewish traders dominant and what did Ragmen do?

4. What did mudlarks do and how did they bathe?

5. How honest were costers' suppliers and how did the costers deal with dishonesty?

6. How did patterers earn their living and what is an example of a story that demonstrated a patterer's skill?

7. How much education did most costermongers have and what was the general extent of their intellectual abilities?

8. What types of generalizations did Mayhew make about the London street people and how did this reflect Victorian thinking on industrialization?

9. How much money did sifters make, what did they do and why did they do it?

10. About how much coal was used in London in a year and who was responsible for cleaning the aftermath of coal use?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The London City Mission was a group of missionaries of various denominations paid to go door-to-door and read scripture, try to convert residents to Christianity and to encourage residents, especially the poor, to attend church. From 1.8 million home visits 307 poor people attending church for the first time, 3,500 being baptized and 48 persons who were living in sin deciding to marry their partners.

1. Do you think the results the London City Mission had was very poor considering the number of home visits that were done? Why or why not? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

2. What do you think the results of the London City Mission indicates about the poor in London at this time? Discuss the reasons in depth. Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

3. Given the amount of time, work hours and effort the London City Mission put into their efforts what do you think they could have done for the poor of London with the same resources that might have helped the people? Do you think they should have done that? Why or why not? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Mayhew seems to genuinely believe that certain occupations like mudlark or dustman are hereditary, rather than learned.

1. Discuss why you think Mayhew was wrong or right in his belief about the occupations being hereditary. Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

2. Discuss how Mayhew's belief of lower level occupations being hereditary shows prejudice towards his research subjects. Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

3. How do you think Mayhew's prejudices affected his ability to research the lives of the mudlarks or dustmen? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Vagrants were those who loitered in the streets with no work or occupation. Mayhew described them as, "Youths, prostitutes, Irish families and professional beggars." Many were young men between 12 and 20 years old, whom Mayhew described as budding criminals.

1. How does Mayhew's statement about vagrants demonstrate his tendency to generalize groups of people. Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

2. Do you think all vagrants were budding criminals? Why or why not? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

3. Why do you think Mayhew specifically mentions Irish families in his writing about vagrants and budding criminals? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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