View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Chapter 4, Riptide, with what did Joan think she needed to fall in love?

2. Who honked her horn and flashed her lights and encouraged an exhausted Joan to continue the race when Joan was about to quit?

3. Why did Joan and her husband decide to spend Christmas together during their separation year?

4. Why did Joan think she was better off than the rich local women who bought fish from her in the market?

5. What wall decoration from New Mexico made Joan think she was at a crossroads in her life?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Joshua Cahoon differ from Joan's husband?

2. What was Joan's day with the seals like?

3. In Chapter 9, Fogged In, how did Joan compare women to fog?

4. In Chapter 4, Riptide, how did Joan relate the state of her marriage to a riptide?

5. When Joan and her husband spent Christmas together at the cottage, what changes did each of them display?

6. What was ironic about how Joan felt once her husband drove away from their house on the day they separated?

7. Why did Joan and her husband decide to separate?

8. How did Joan's winter days and nights with her husband and children compare to her winter on Cape Cod?

9. How did other people respond when they learned Joan was working at a fish market?

10. In Chapter 6, Waves of Truth, how did Joan feel about her sons' plans to spend Christmas with their wives' families instead of with Joan and her husband?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the importance of the seal island to Joan. What lessons did she learn from the island and the seals that inhabit it? Why did her husband not understand the importance of the island to her? Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the concept of sacrifice in "A Year by the Sea." What did Joan think she sacrificed during her marriage? What might her husband think he sacrificed during their marriage? Is the concept of sacrifice a gender issue in the book, i.e. is the author saying that women sacrifice themselves and their desires for their husbands and children? Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Joan's reliability as a narrator. How reliable is she? In what ways might she be biased? Do you think her perceptions of her experiences are accurate? Why or why not? Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,199 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample