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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. Who is the chief body guard of Prince Boris?

2. What political persuasion describes Thomas Vass?

3. What does the prior of the monastery feed Sir MacTavish and his squire?

4. What are iron rations?

5. Why does Will Olafson need help on the croft?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did the invading ship men stop coming to claim land in the Orkney islands?

2. How are the men of the North treated when they had sailed into the Byzantium empire?

3. What is the general opinion of Thorfinn in the village of Norday?

4. In the Song of the Broch, how does Thorfinn describe the sheltering castle?

5. Why are the children bored on the field trip to the broch?

6. Why does the school teacher, Mr. Simon, have trouble paying for his groceries at the village shop in Norday?

7. Why is Mr. Simon's lesson on Bannockburn so boring?

8. Why does Thorfinn not know what the circular ruin is that stands on the shore a mere half mile from his home?

9. Why did the broch on Norday island become a ruin?

10. When headed down the Volga River what does the crew of the Solan Goose eat?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The social order of Norday Island is strictly regulated. Thorfinn is cast, from birth, to be a crofter, as his father was before him. Write an essay on why such a system of pre-ordained roles is important for the continuation of any culture. Is Thorfinn simply a rare oddity who can't fulfill his role or is he symbolic of the "modern man" who longs to find himself outside the bounds of tradition and culture? What is the role of tradition in a small interdependent world such as Norday?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay on the idea of a muse, in both ancient Greek literature and here, in chapter 5. How does Sophie function as a muse? Find one example of an ancient Greek muse and compare her to that example.

Essay Topic 3

Write a detailed character sketch of Mara, the seal wife. What does she give up by marriage to Thorfinn? What is it that she longs for? What is it that she cannot stand, finally, and why does she return to the sea? What does she look like? How does she see the world? What does she want?

(see the answer keys)

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