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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 were professors and artists?

2. What happened to the young girl lured from home?

3. What was one thing the London City Mission did?

4. Why did the puppeteer sometimes change the content of the Punch and Judy play?

5. What group does Mayhew include among street folk that seems out of place?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the difference between a conductor and other street people?

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

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

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

5. What did the London City Mission do?

6. How many prostitutes were there in London?

7. What differentiated street folk from patterers?

8. Why did the author say "Dolly shops" were suspect?

9. What did the people Mayhew called "Punch" do?

10. How many visits were done by the London City Mission and what were the results of those visits?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The city of London used 3.5 million tons of coal each year and generated millions of tons of ash and soot. Dustmen were hired to haul off the ashes and dust, as well as haul away garbage and keep the streets clean.

1. Do you think London at this time might have been more polluted than modern cities? Why or why not? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

2. Discuss how you think the quality of the air in London in this era might have affected people's lives. Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

3. Discuss, in depth, the ways in which a dustman's life and health would have been affected by the job. 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

Discuss the following:

1. What do you think is Mayhew's agenda for this book? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

2. Do you think Mayhew's research methods were valid? Why or why not? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

3. What do you think Mayhew could have done to produce a better book? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 989 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample