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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. How far of a bike ride from Joan's home was the general store?

2. Who was paying for the work of the men Joan found at her cottage upon her return from the general store?

3. What action made the clams spit, i.e. make holes in the sand that revealed where they were?

4. Once Joan was dropped off on the seal island, how did she feel?

5. What did Joan Erickson's cousin do for a living?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did the friendship between Joan Anderson and Joan Erikson develop in Chapter 10, Seal Woman?

2. What symbolism did Joan see in the sandbar?

3. What truths about her life were revealed to Joan during her trip to the seal island in Chapter 15, Wild and Salty?

4. What evidence was there in Chapter 16, Port of Call, that Joan had grown during her year in Cape Cod?

5. What was the Cape Cod general store like, and what did being there help Joan decide about her stay in the community?

6. What was ironic about how Joan felt once she arrived on the seal island in Chapter 15, Wild and Salty?

7. What did Joan Anderson expect to learn from the psychoanalyst, and what did Joan Erikson tell her when she didn't learn what she expected?

8. How did Joshua Cahoon help Joan learn clamming?

9. When Joan's husband mentioned retirement at the beginning of Chapter 14, Safe Harbor, how did his idea of retirement differ from Joan's?

10. What gift did Joan's boss at the fish market give her, and what did the gift indicate about his acceptance of Joan in the Cape Cod community?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast Joan's two jobs on Cape Cod with her career as a writer. How did her two jobs on Cape Cod change Joan, her relationships, and her marriage? Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the theme of self-reliance in the book. How did Joan demonstrate self-reliance at Cape Cod, and was she self-reliant all her life, or did she become more so during her year by the sea? Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.

Essay Topic 3

At the end of the book, Joan and her husband reunited. Discuss whether you found this ending satisfying or not and why. Did it negate Joan's feminist precepts for her to take her husband back? Was it believable that Joan would reunite with her husband after her unhappiness during her marriage? Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.

(see the answer keys)

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