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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 technique is used when the narrator says that "Up in the atmosphere thunder roll with laughter"?
2. As her conversation with Matilda continues, what second objection to Harry does Jean raise?
3. When Nobby says that his motto is not to interfere in another man's business, what question is he responding to?
4. When Harry and Jean go out into the hallway together, he decides to "make hay while the match was shining" (26). What does the expression "make hay" mean?
5. When they are smoking in the park, where does Poor offer to take Harry later that evening?
Short Essay Questions
1. How did Gallows come to meet Battersby and his friends?
2. What number does Bat imagine giving his apartment, and why is this important to him?
3. How does the sentence "I mean, you think it have a lot of obeah and black magic in the West Indies, but if you listen to some of these Nordics" illustrate the unusual aspects of this book's narrative voice?
4. Why does the narrator say that weather forecasters should be "diplomats" (4)?
5. Which of Bat's friends takes photographs, and what is comical about how he does it?
6. What is the story of how Gallows came to live in London?
7. When the novel opens, what is Battersby doing?
8. What observations does the narrator make about hidden ambition before telling the story of how Gallows came to England?
9. Describe the talent of Battersby's that the narrator talks about on pages 6 and 7.
10. How does Harry end up holding onto Poor's pack of cigarettes for him?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Do some research on portrayals of West Indians in the literature and culture of Britain prior to the 1970's. Write an essay that places The Housing Lark within this context, making and defending a claim about whether or not The Housing Lark functions as an act of opposition to the dominant culture in this time and place. Support your ideas with evidence from the text, and cite all sources in MLA format.
Essay Topic 2
Write an essay explicating the possible purposes of the parallels between techniques used in The Housing Lark and in calypso music. Show what these parallels are, providing evidence for the similarities you identify. Then, explain how these parallels support meaning--for instance, by creating atmosphere and conveying ideas. Support your ideas with evidence from the text, and cite all sources in MLA format.
Essay Topic 3
Choose a passage of two to eight pages that strikes you as particularly comic. Explicate the use of comic techniques within this passage. Identify the types of comedy within the scene and then explain the specific techniques used to create this humor. Support your ideas with evidence from the text, and cite all sources in MLA format.
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This section contains 1,100 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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