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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 group did the magician join to get away from home?

2. What did Hemyng say about the French woman?

3. What puppeteer did Mayhew interview?

4. On the average, how many tracts did each person accept when they were being handed out?

5. How many prostitutes did Bishop Ryan estimate worked in London?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was a casual ward?

2. How many prostitutes were there in London?

3. What was a "Dolly mop" and who did the author consider one?

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

5. What differentiated street folk from patterers?

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the following:

1. Do you think the prejudice and stereotyping of poor people still exist today? Why or why not? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

2. Do you believe the government has an obligation to ensure that all citizens have a certain minimal level of existence? Why or why not?

3. How do you think Mayhew's religious beliefs affected his research? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Most costermongers were uneducated, and had attended the free public schools only for a few years, or not at all. Although costers were adept at adding and subtracting to figure their profits, they were ignorant of multiplication and very few could read or write.

1. Discuss how lack of education contributes to poverty. Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

2. Discuss some of the reasons that might keep a child of a costermonger family from attending free public schools. Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

3. Taking into consideration the factors of poverty, should the government of London in this era have made school mandatory? Why or why not? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Bolder boys sometimes climbed onto empty coal barges and swept up the leavings of the cargo. This was considered theft, and they were usually chased off by the owners. Sometimes one would be arrested and sent to jail for a week. Like coster children, they regarded a week in relatively warm, safe surroundings with regular meals as a vacation.

1. Do you think the sweepings of coal left behind should be considered theft? Why or why not? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

2. Discuss what the fact that some children regarded the jail as a vacation says about the coster children's lives. Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

3. Discuss ways in which you see coster children as being abused in general in this era in London. Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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