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. How does Bub feel about the school lunches?

2. How does Jones feel about Mrs. Hedges?

3. How does Min feel after visiting the root doctor?

4. What did Lutie find when she entered her home after receiving her father's letter?

5. How does the reporter describe the man who was stabbed to death?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did the white bartenders treat the patrons of Junto's? How did this treatment differ from the treatment they received in the workforce?

2. Chapter 2 provides Lutie with a valuable lesson: "Anybody could be rich if he wanted to and worked hard enough and figured it out carefully enough." Still, Lutie is often discouraged by the world around her. How does the external world affect Lutie's internal life?

3. Chapter 4 more clearly depicts Jones' obsession with Lutie. In fact, "she made him more aware of his loneliness that ate into him day and night." How might Lutie's mere appearance open up such a void in Jones?

4. Why does Lutie refuse to wear the blouse crushed by Jones?

5. In Chapter 1, what idea does the author hope to represent with the shrinking canary, dog, and woman in Jones' apartment?

6. How does Lutie's grandmother's insistence that the butchers in Harlem use embalming fluid to give their meat a nice fresh color reflect her grandmother's overall view of life?

7. Chapter 1 opens with the description of a cold and windy day in New York City. Why might the author have chosen to describe the wind through personification?

8. How do Boots' responses to how he gets gas and how he avoided the draft serve the reader? What is the reader able to gather about Boots from his answers?

9. Jones becomes enraged when he looks at Bub and imagines that the boy resembles his father. Why do you think this is?

10. How does Lutie feel after being offered the job of singer in Boots' band? What does she know for sure after the offer?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The novel's title - The Street - indicates a sense of generality. The book is not given the name of a specific street. Still, it's clear that The Street is not just ANY street. In an essay, explain the loaded nature of the book's title. Be sure to address the author's decision to assign such a vague name while addressing a specific setting. Use details from the text to support your ideas.

Essay Topic 2

Beginning as far back as Chapter 1, Lutie demonstrates the capacity to wander in and out of reality. She often fantasizes about things that aren't there and even questions the reliability of her sight. In an essay, identify several instances that exemplify Lutie's tendency to fantasize. Does this tendency inform her ability to commit murder? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Min is a fairly docile character. Even though her mind is hard at work, she rarely voices an opinion, even about her own treatment. She juxtaposes other women who are quite different in nature. Mrs. Hedges is overtly vocal about what she thinks--giving unwarranted advice at times. Lutie may not always condemn things aloud, but she does not stand for them and will respond with some sort of action. In your opinion, which of the three characters best handles life? Whose approach has brought the most freedom? In contrast, which character's life choices have resulted in a less than desirable life? Support your ideas with evidence from the text.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,105 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample