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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. From the narrator's explanation of how dogs are treated in the West Indies, what is it reasonable to conclude?

2. What does Gallows take from a pile of trash when he, Syl, Pat, and Bat are looking for a hotel room?

3. What qualifies Bat to run the excursion to Hamdon Court?

4. When Gallows looks at the pavement of Bayswater Road, what does it make him wonder about London?

5. Who is the first of the friends to ask Bat for his money back?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What does Syl spend most of his free time doing in the summer, and why does it seem to be a wasted effort?

4. When the friends come to Bat's apartment to ask for their money back, what does the narrator mean when he says that Bat "shake the lists as if they was cheques" (60)?

5. How did Nobby end up with a dog?

6. What does Teena expect from Fitz during the excursion, and how does he get out of doing what she asks?

7. 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?

8. Describe Bat's reaction to Matilda's suggestion about the excursion.

9. 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?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What are the various functions of the West Indian vernacular language used in The Housing Lark? Why does it matter that this is the dialect used by the narrator? How does this dialect contribute to meaning and tone? Write an essay that takes and defends a position on these issues. Support your ideas with evidence from the text, and cite all sources in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Most of The Housing Lark is set in Brixton, but one important section of the novel takes place in Hampton Court, in Richmond upon Thames. Why remove some of the novel's action to this specific place? Write an essay that takes and defends a position about the significance of setting in this passage. Consider the place's history and its cultural significance to the English as well as its juxtaposition with the carnivalesque excursion and the interpretation of the place by the book's characters. Consider why it is referred to as "Hamdon Court" throughout the text--including by the narrator. Support your ideas with evidence from the text, and cite all sources in MLA format.

(see the answer keys)

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