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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 was the cause of the fire the men responded to at Union and 166th Street in Chapter 10?

2. Why did Smith say he disagreed with fellow firefighters' prejudices, but also understood them?

3. Why did Smith not eat hamburgers when fellow firefighters prepared them for the station dinner?

4. Why was Dennis upset about the visit from the welfare inspector?

5. What film does Smith reference when discussing the station's housekeeping chores in Chapter 10?

Short Essay Questions

1. Is the poverty seen by Dennis Smith in the South Bronx different than the poverty in which he grew up?

2. How did the elementary student, Cynthia, approach her interview with Smith in Chapter 9?

3. How did Dennis Smith feel as a child when the welfare inspector visited his family?

4. Does Smith feel that society has become more violent over the years, and if so, why?

5. Why were the men uneasy as they begin the training drill in Chapter 6?

6. What did Smith find most frustrating about the attack on the firefighters (the dropped garbage can) in Chapter 8?

7. Did Smith feel that the rich New Yorkers mentioned in Chapter 7, who were raising money to bail out Black Panthers, had any real understanding of need?

8. Why did Smith view being a firemen as a sign of success when he was a child?

9. How did the firefighters react to the call in Chapter 7 in which they tended to a man who almost overdosed on drugs?

10. Why had the system of safety inspections changed so radically?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Some of the South Bronx children, including Tina de Vega, occasionally visited Engine Co. 82 when they were younger. Why do you think these children made these visits to talk to Smith and the other firemen? Were they simply bored? Were they looking for some sort of adult guidance? Were they reaching out to the adult world?

Essay Topic 2

Smith was extremely busy with work and family, but managed to carve out time to take daily notes so that he could write a book. In what ways do you think the act of writing this memoir helped Smith process the horrible scenes he frequently witnessed? Do you think that writing about his painful experiences gave him a way of working out his feelings about them? Could the book be considered a form of therapy?

Essay Topic 3

Smith describes his reasons for living outside of the community in which he served. Do you think it is necessary for civil servants to live in the communities for which they work? Would Smith have been any more effective if he had lived in the South Bronx? Or, did his decision to seek a quieter life for his family make it easier for him to serve a needy community? In what ways could living amongst the people you serve make you a better servant? Do communities have a responsibility to make it easier for civil servants to live locally by, for instance, ensuring affordable housing?

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