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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. How many visits per day did each missionary make on average?

2. What did Hemyng define as prostitution?

3. What did the fire eater have to do once to win five shillings on a bet?

4. What did Mayhew call the fact that many would rather starve than accept charity?

5. What group did the magician join to get away from home?

Short Essay Questions

1. How many prostitutes were there in London?

2. What was an example of a male prostitute the author gave?

3. What was the photographer's business like according to Mayhew?

4. What differentiated street folk from patterers?

5. What was an ongoing problem for the company from conductors and how did the bus companies combat that problem?

6. What did conductors do and how did they get paid? What kind of person might become a conductor?

7. How prevalent was theft, where did it often occur and how did a thief make money on stolen goods?

8. How did cab drivers obtain their cabs, how many hours did they work, and what did they sometimes do to mitigate their long hours?

9. Who was the magician Mayhew interviewed and how did he become a magician?

10. What was pornography and why did it become illegal in London?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Mayhew portrayed the Jewish traders as seldom being drinkers or gamblers, but having an extreme love of money and an unquenchable thirst for speculation in any commodity.

1. Do you think the fact that the Jewish immigrants were usually not drinkers or gamblers might account for some of the Jewish financial success? Explain your answer using examples from the text and your own life.

2. Explain what you might think Mayhew's feelings towards Jews might be from the above statement. Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

3. Discuss ways in which "extreme love of money" might manifest in a person's life. Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Due to competition, the photographer had to offer portraits for a half-penny, an impossibly low price. To bolster earnings, he either lured people into buying a more expensive photo, or sold them bogus products like a "Patent American Air Preserver" that was actually just scrap paper.

1. After reading this photographer's story would you consider him to be of low moral character? Why or why not? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

2. Explain why this photographer's actions demonstrates the validity of the cliche: buyer beware. Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

3. Do you believe it is the responsibility of the seller of a goods to make certain the goods are worth the selling price or it is the responsibility of the buyer to decide that? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Costermongers usually lived in a drab, dreary, dirty rented room. Often it was shared with other family members. A mother, father and four or more children might live in a single room.

1. Discuss how living conditions such as in the statement above might affect a family. Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

2. Refute or defend the following statement: Human beings have a right to food, shelter and safety. Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

3. Explore some of the similarities and differences between the living conditions of costermongers in London during the era of this book and the slums of modern cities. Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,070 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample