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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 do the two girls call Ernest?

2. What does Smith rob with his friend?

3. What did the narrator do as soon as he found a job?

4. Where does the narrator walk with his wife when he receives his first paycheck?

5. What is Harry doing when his wife tells him she loves him?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Kathy die?

2. What is Borstal?

3. Why do Mr. Raynor's pupils no longer bother to sneer at him for his well-known habit of staring at the drapery girls?

4. Why does Smith say he wrote this story?

5. What is Ernest's routine?

6. What is the girls' family life like?

7. How do the two girls manipulate Ernest?

8. Why does Colin agree to run in a competition for Borstal?

9. How does Mr. Raynor reward Robinson?

10. How does Mr. Raynor remember the girl he regarded as physically perfect?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the author's writing style. How would you describe the author's prose style? What kind of vocabulary does he use? What meaning does the author's style give to the book?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the author's life. In what way is his life and personality is reflected in the book?

Essay Topic 3

Examine the British class system.

1. What points does Sillitoe make about the British class system?

2. Why is it so difficult for two classes to get on together?

3. How have peoples' attitudes towards class changed in the different time periods portrayed in the book?

(see the answer keys)

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