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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 does Jean surprise Gallows when he runs into her near the park where she is looking for clients?

2. According to Bat's reading of one housing listing, how much money will the friends need for a deposit on a house in Notting Hill?

3. Why does Gallows suggest that Pat be the one to go in and ask for a hotel room?

4. What does Nobby's landlady tell him he must feed his dog?

5. Where does Bat first suggest Syl look for a hotel room?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Harry react when he learns what Jean does for a living?

2. When they are talking near the park, what truths does Jean reveal to Harry about Bat and his friends?

3. Who are the Legion of Mary sisters, and what do they want from Jean?

4. What details does the narrator give about the excursion crowd's clothing and the things they are carrying, and what do these details imply?

5. What tactics does Syl use to try to get Pat to sleep with him that violate modern Western standards of consent?

6. What story about finding money did Alfy once tell Gallows?

7. How did Harry end up in London, and what point does the narrator say this illustrates?

8. When, outside the final hotel, Gallows asks whether Syl got Pat an Indian curry, what is he referring to, and what is Syl's reply?

9. Describe the crowd's behavior on the bus on the way to Hamdon Court.

10. What irony does the narrator point out in the way men treat women?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In The Housing Lark, the characters live, work, and socialize primarily in Brixton. But many other areas of London are mentioned by name. Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about how these other areas of London are used in this text. What ideas do the various London boroughs and suburbs stand in for in the book's discussion of things like immigration, prejudice, and insider and outsider statuses? 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

How does the narrator's code-switching support meaning in The Housing Lark? The narrator mixes vernacular with Standard British English and infuses his narrative with references to both West Indian and English culture, alluding to literature, the Bible, mathematics, and other traditional academic subjects. Write an essay that considers not only the impact that this has on the reader but also how this code-switching reinforces ideas found in passages such as the discussion of weather at the beginning of the novel and the discussion of history throughout the Hamdon Court sequence. Support your ideas with evidence from the text, and cite all sources in MLA format.

(see the answer keys)

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