View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What awkward announcement does Matthew Ragnarson make to his children in chapter 6?
(a) He plans to marry again.
(b) Ragna is asked to leave immediately.
(c) Thorfinn will inherit the farm alone.
(d) He has cancer.

2. Who is Thomas Vass?
(a) Laird's uncle.
(b) Village smithy.
(c) Laird's factor, who manages his property and business.
(d) Sophie's intended groom.

3. How does the laird describe Norday Island to his factor in chapter 5?
(a) "A breath of air past fog."
(b) "This precious stone set in a silver sea."
(c) "The lark at dawn arising."
(d) "Sweet sessions of Syrian thought."

4. What is a croft?
(a) Group of bairns.
(b) Farm.
(c) Fishing boat.
(d) Carving skills.

5. Whose house does Thorfinn come back to in chapter 8?
(a) Swinehurst.
(b) Jimmy Greeno's beach shack.
(c) Laird's Hall.
(d) Ingle.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many rooms does the laird's Hall have?

2. What brought Doctor Lamond down to the work site?

3. What has Thorfinn come back from the war to find in Norday?

4. Who arrives on the Raven one summer day in 1937?`

5. Where is Matthew Ragnarson buried?

Short Essay Questions

1. According to chapter 5, how did the lairds of old manage to be so wealthy?

2. In chapter five one of the previous minister uses the title of the book when referring to fossils. What does he mean?

3. Did the peace treaty between Chamberlain and Hitler stop the work on the Norday Aerodrome?

4. In chapter 6, what is Elphinstone's role in rounding up the young men for military service?

5. What did the Ragnarson's dog, Stalwart, do when the workers came to tear down the fences in order that Ingle might become part of the Aerodrome building site?

6. What is a press gang?

7. What does Thomas Vass think about the arrival of work crews and machinery on Norday Island during the war?

8. What does Thorfinn find when he goes, after many long years, back to the loft where he had locked up Mara's seal skin?

9. How does Mara react when a seal is captured and killed by the fishermen?

10. Why are all the doors gone from the island homes when Thorfinn returns to Norday after many years absence?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 880 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample