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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 "relic of the Monopoly" does the grandmother take out on Christmas night?

2. What big business is passed into the hands of Ingolfur Arnarson?

3. Where does Nonni learn he will go in Section 3?

4. Who is having a conversation at the start of Section 3?

5. What does Gvendur pretend to leave behind in a ploy to talk with Ingolfur's daughter?

Short Essay Questions

1. What strange things happens to the Bjartur's flock of sheep in Section 3?

2. How is Gvendur described in Admission Tickets in Section 4?

3. In Conversations with the Higher Power in Section 3, what happens to Bjartur's ewes?

4. How do Bjartur's feelings about his new house change over the course of the novel?

5. How does Bjartur treat all the people who come to his home in Section 3?

6. What happens between Asta and the teacher in Section 3?

7. What impact does WWI have on Iceland, as told in Section 4?

8. What does Bjartur do in retaliation for his sheep being killed in Section 3?

9. What does Bjartur say to Gvendur when Gvendur tells him he is leaving for America in Section 4?

10. Who is Brynja?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Section One, on his wedding day Bjartur says, "In a way sheep and men are one" (32). Analyze the means of this quote. How does it symbolize the connection that Bjartur feels to his animals? Why would he think that animals and man are the same?

Essay Topic 2

Although the novel is set in Iceland in the 1930s, there are multiple universal themes in the text that are timeless. Select 2 of these themes and write about how they are expressed in this story and how they are universally understood.

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the theme of death in the novel. What is Laxness suggesting about death and its causes?

(see the answer keys)

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