View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What were the "high incidence hours" that Tactical Control Unit 712 became responsible for?

2. What board game were the firemen playing in Chapter 3?

3. Why did Smith want to re-read the Yeats poem about wise men becoming tense with violence before they can accomplish fate?

4. What did the firefighters discover when they arrived at the Kelly Street fire in Chapter 1?

5. How did the firefighters save the life of the overdose victim on Hoe Avenue?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Dennis Smith get started on writing Report From Engine Co. 82?

2. What does Dennis Smith think should be done with people who pull malicious false alarms, and why?

3. Why do you think Dennis Smith found the act of writing the book as exciting as responding to fire calls?

4. Why does Dennis Smith think firefighters--although regular people--are nevertheless somehow apart from others?

5. What did the firemen mean by the term "tough shit" during their discussion of the arson fire in Chapter 1?

6. Why does Smith say city workers were fleeing cities to live in the suburbs?

7. How does Smith describe the fire marshals sent to investigate the Intervale Avenue fire?

8. How was Firefighter Mike Carr killed?

9. Describe Fireman Jim Gintel's personality.

10. What was Dennis Smith's main concern about writing about his fellow firefighters?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Some of the South Bronx children, including Tina de Vega, occasionally visited Engine Co. 82 when they were younger. Why do you think these children made these visits to talk to Smith and the other firemen? Were they simply bored? Were they looking for some sort of adult guidance? Were they reaching out to the adult world?

Essay Topic 2

Smith describes his reasons for living outside of the community in which he served. Do you think it is necessary for civil servants to live in the communities for which they work? Would Smith have been any more effective if he had lived in the South Bronx? Or, did his decision to seek a quieter life for his family make it easier for him to serve a needy community? In what ways could living amongst the people you serve make you a better servant? Do communities have a responsibility to make it easier for civil servants to live locally by, for instance, ensuring affordable housing?

Essay Topic 3

Abject poverty is a recurrent theme in Report From Engine Co. 82. In what ways does Smith think that poverty leads to an increase in crime and fire incidents in the South Bronx? Discuss how feelings of desperation Smith describes can break apart families and contribute to an ongoing cycle of poverty and lawlessness.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,058 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample