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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. When Bat shoos the men out of his apartment so that he and Syl can be alone with Pat, what does Gallows stay behind for?

2. When Bat is trying to seduce Matilda in his apartment after she suggests the excursion, besides flattering her, what else does he tell her?

3. What time of year is it when the men first come up with the plan to buy a house?

4. In Westbourne Grove, when Pat refuses to let Syl touch her, what does Syl threaten to do?

5. What is a char-a-banc?

Short Essay Questions

1. What function do the historical details offered during the Hamdon Court excursion serve?

2. When the friends come to Bat's apartment to ask for their money back, how does Bat use their feelings for Harry to manipulate them?

3. How did Nobby end up with a dog?

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

5. How does Bat manipulate the situation so that he is the one who ends up with Pat?

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

7. What details does the narrator give that demonstrate how eager people are to go on the excursion?

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

9. Explain Matilda's "excursion" plan.

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 one lesson, you imagined a possible ending for The Housing Lark and then explained what messages your proposed ending would send regarding the tension between the pragmatic and the ideal. Now that you have finished the book, write an essay that analyzes its actual ending: explore the ideas about "use" and "dreaming" conveyed by this ending. Support your ideas with evidence from the text, and cite all sources in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

The Housing Lark is a novel that conveys much about the importance of community--Selvon uses characters, plot details, narrative voice, and other tools to reinforce his meaning. How does he also use the structure of storytelling itself to reinforce the novel's messages about community? What structures might he have chosen rather than his "ballad" format? How does this pattern of digression into individuals' stories and return to the central plot of the housing plan transmit an important message about community? Write an essay that analyzes how the novel's structure supports its concerns with the importance of community. Support your ideas with evidence from the text, and cite all sources in MLA format.

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