input: from typing import List
  
  
  def linearSearch(array: List[str], search_item: str) -> int:
      """Given a list of strings, this function performs a linear search
      to locate the index of the search_item. If the search_item is found,
      its position is returned. Otherwise, the function returns -1.
      >>> linearSearch(['school', 'hospital', 'bookstore', 'mall', 'theatre'], 'hospital')
      1
      >>> linearSearch(['school', 'hospital', 'bookstore', 'mall', 'theatre'], 'library')
      -1
      """
      for i in range(len(array)):
          if array[i] == search_item:
              return i
      return -1
output:     for i in range(len(array)):
          if array[i] == search_item:
              return i
      return -1