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Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. What did Smith find buried under the rubble at the Charlotte Street apartment in Chapter 5?
2. Who was responsible for the most malicious false alarms?
3. What is Washingtonville's main claim to historical significance?
4. How long did Smith take off to recover from the throat damage he sustained during the Prospect Avenue fire in Chapter 3?
5. Why does Smith call firefighters the most "ubiquitous" civil servants?
Short Essay Questions
1. What was Firefighter Jim's reaction to news of the arrests of Vietnam War protesters in Chapter 3?
2. What does Dennis Smith think should be done with people who pull malicious false alarms, and why?
3. How did the firefighters feel about the deaths of the two teenagers in the Intervale Avenue arson fire in Chapter 1?
4. What did the firemen do when they got the second teenager out of the Intervale Avenue apartment building, which was torched in the arson attack in Chapter 1?
5. Why did Artie think the 20th century should be called the "Great Zap"?
6. In what ways does Smith view the old-style machine politics as preferable to the current system?
7. How did Smith's mother's attitude toward work reflect an old-fashioned way of viewing labor in New York City?
8. Why does Smith tell his mother that he feels compelled to continue working in the dangerous South Bronx neighborhood?
9. Why, according to Dennis Smith, were so many false alarms were pulled in the South Bronx?
10. How was Firefighter Mike Carr killed?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Smith discusses dropping out of school because he wanted to start making money and states that he found his own way to survive. In retrospect, was his decision to drop out a good, bad, or neutral one? What could he have more easily accomplished had he earned his diploma? Are there things that he learned while working that he could not have learned in school?Could he have put those things off until after school?
Essay Topic 2
Smith reveals a particular contempt for people who steal from their fellow poor and mentions that he himself shoplifted from fancy stores as a child, but would never have stolen from a neighbor. What do you think about this attitude? Is it acceptable for the poor to steal from stores? Does shoplifting have an effect only on the store owner or does the effect trickle down to the entire community? Should the punishments be different depending upon whom the victim is?
Essay Topic 3
In Chapter 2, a young boy was injured when a driver known for hot-rodding sped through the neighborhood; the driver was beaten by the gathered crowd before being rescued by police. Smith pointed out that while the boy never cried, the driver was weeping in the police car because he was worried he wouldn't be protected. How did the firefighters react to the man's attitude? In what way is physical pain sometimes easier to handle than mental pain? Does knowing you have been guilty of a crime cause pain? Did the man's crying indicate that he felt remorse for what he had done or was it simply cowardice? Is it ever easy to face up to despicable acts?
This section contains 1,141 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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