Ragged Dick

CHAPTERS 1-7

Reading Check

1. George Washington (Chapter 1)

2. He swears, plays tricks on people, has “extravagance,” and smokes and gambles from time to time. (Chapter 1)

3. His father, who is a “drunkard” (Chapter 2)

4. He offers to show Frank the city as a “tour guide.” (Chapter 3)

5. A “neat gray suit” (Chapter 4)

6. “Newsboys' Lodgin' House” (Chapter 7)

Short Answer

1. Dick is a homeless youth who lives in a box on the street. With his mismatched clothes, he works as a “boot-blacker” (i.e., shoe-shiner) using the same facilities that he sleeps in for his employment. (Chapter 1)

2. Johnny Nolan is a fellow boot-blacker that Dick knows. Upon seeing him outside a restaurant hungry, Dick buys him food and offers him advice not to be “lazy” by finding customers. (Chapter 2)

3. Upon requesting change for a customer, Dick is told by a store clerk that the bill is “bad,” and blames Dick for lying since his appearance indicates possible theft. Dick brings his customer into the store to resolve the dispute, where the clerk, after some time realizing his attempts to keep the bill were thwarted, admits it was his fault in assuming the bill was bad. (Chapter 3)

4. Dick shows Frank around the larger streets of New York City, pointing out large buildings and various shops. As they poke in and out of various clothing stores, Dick and Frank comment on the prices of goods, and make comparisons between life in the city and country. (Chapter 5)

5. Frank offers to support Dick with learning how to read and suggests he visit him in the country. Dick is surprised by the offer, particularly since he is a boot-black, to which Frank responds, “You won't be a boot-black all your life, you know.” (Chapter 6)

6. The “drop-game” is a common form of deception on the streets, where a man pretends to find an object of immense wealth and trade it with a stranger for cash. Dick and Frank encounter a man who tries to hustle them with this game; however, Dick understands the situation and hustles the man first with a counterfeit bill. In this vein, Frank begins to see a new side of life on the streets. (Chapter 7)

CHAPTERS 8-14

Reading Check

1. Steal (Chapter 8)

2. “The bulls is what tries to make the stocks go up, and the bears is what try to growl 'em down.” (Chapter 10)

3. “[P]overty in early life” (Chapter 11)

4. He decides “to hunt up a room which he could occupy regularly, and consider as his own, where he could sleep nights, instead of depending on boxes and old wagons for a chance shelter.” (Chapter 12)

5. “[A]n honest business” (Chapter 14)

Short Answer

1. After his mother died as a child and his father went to sea, Dick was raised by another family until they could no longer support him. As a result, Dick spent most of his life supporting himself on the street. (Chapter 8)

2. Already annoyed with his request to sit down, a female passenger accuses Frank of stealing her purse. Frank and Dick are amused and incredulous at the accusation, and they allow the conductor to search them to no avail. The woman searches her pockets again, only to find she had her wallet in her pocket the whole time; however, she refuses to apologize to the boys. (Chapter 9)

3. After encountering a young man who was swindled out of $50, Dick spots a culprit and uses the name Ephraim Smith to determine whether or not the man was the culprit. After threatening to report the man’s swindling habits, the man gives him money, and Dick returns the bills to the rightful owner. (Chapter 11)

4. Mr. Whitney gives Dick a $5 bill as a payment, which Dick is reluctant to take; however, Mr. Whitney insists that the boy should educate himself in order to better himself and tells him to give the $5 to a poor person when he has the means. (Chapter 11)

5. After securing a weekly lodging for himself, he decides to try and open a bank account for his savings, and not live hand to mouth anymore. (Chapter 13)

CHAPTERS 15-20

Reading Check

1. Dick will let Fosdick stay at his lodgings if Fosdick will teach him how to read and write. (Chapter 15)

2. He says a prayer. (Chapter 16)

3. A “bully” (Chapter 18)

4. Using a sum of both his and Fosdick’s savings, Dick offers Fosdick the whole of their money so that he may buy a new suit. (Chapter 18)

5. “[H]e had accumulated no less a sum than one hundred and seventeen dollars.” (Chapter 20)

Short Answer

1. The morning after depositing his money in the bank’s savings, Dick realizes that he forgot to return Mr. Greyson’s change from the previous day. Mr. Greyson is impressed with Dick’s honesty and invites him to attend his church on Fifth Avenue so that he can study the Bible at Sunday School. (Chapter 15)

2. Fosdick is an acquaintance of Dick’s from the street who does not have enough money to secure food or lodging. Dick also learns about Fosdick’s descent into poverty, which was brought on by the untimely death of his father who lost $2000 to a man named Hiram Bates. (Chapter 15)

3. After attending church together, Mr. Greyson invites Dick and Fosdick to have lunch with himself and his family before Sunday School. Dick feels somewhat awkward, particularly around Mr. Greyson’s daughter Ida, who asks him a series of questions related to his background and education. (Chapter 17)

4. Roswell, who is from a more privileged background, believes his affiliations alone will secure him the job; however, Fosdick is selected for the position due to his honesty, quality of writing, and a recommendation from Mr. Greyson. (Chapter 19)

CHAPTERS 21-27

Reading Check

1. So he can by a steamer passage ticket to California (Chapter 22)

2. He must pay the rent since his mother broke her arm and can no longer work. (Chapter 23)

3. So he can pick up a letter addressed to “Ragged Dick” (Chapter 24)

4. “One was, the natural pleasure he would have in meeting a friend; but he felt also that he would like to have Frank witness the improvement he had made in his studies and mode of life.” (Chapter 24)

5. His “Washington coat and Napoleon pants” (Chapter 27)

Short Answer

1. After Dick’s bank-book goes missing, Mrs. Mooney suggests that another tenant, Jim Travis, may be the culprit of the theft. After some deliberation, the boys decide not to say anything to Jim and quietly follow his movements. (Chapter 21)

2. Upon realizing that Travis knows the extent of his savings, Dick races to the bank in order to stop Travis from using his bank-book to withdraw the funds. He is able to warn the cashier a moment prior to Travis’s entry and asks the cashier to help him hide. Ultimately, Travis is caught by the police for attempting to steal, and Dick’s funds are saved. (Chapter 23)

3. Unlike Dick, Johnny is “not adapted to succeed in the life which circumstances had forced upon him.” This is primarily apparent in his view of education, as he reveals to Dick that he dropped out of school because “it was too hard work.” (Chapter 25)

4. James Rockwell is a merchant whom Dick encounters on a ferry to Brooklyn. When James’s son falls overboard, Dick jumps into the river to rescue him, to which James decides to offer him employment as a clerk in his office at an astronomical wage of $10 a week. (Chapter 27)