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. Scottish is a fusion of what two languages?

2. On what day of the week does Olafson die?

3. Who does the title of chapter 3 "A Man's Life" refer to?

4. Who is Hieronymus?

5. What does Albert Laird make for Olafson?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the family situation of Matthew Ragnarson at the beginning of the book?

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

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

4. When and where does Old Jacob Olafson die?

5. What does the title of chapter 3 refer to?

6. When Thorfinn drifts back into time, at the side of the broch ruin, how far back does he go and where is he?

7. What is the scripture reading that the pastor from the Borders, Reverend Hector Drummond, saying?

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

9. What reaction does Jacob's wife, Rena, have to arriving on Norday Island?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The impetuous for Thorfinn's storytelling/dreaming is often being uncomfortable (from either boredom or conflict). Trace this pattern through the book and show how these uncomfortable situations lead him into a time of imagination. Show how he is able to work through difficulty through his gift of imagination and storytelling.

Essay Topic 2

In the tight knit community of Norday, each person plays a pre-ordained role which is vital in some way to the health of the entire community. Write an essay describing the role of the laird in Orkney culture, both in time past and in present day (1930s) Norday. What role did the laird play and why is the present laird, although much less powerless, still important? What is his function in terms of the culture? Or does he have one any longer?

Essay Topic 3

The theme of the disintegration of the broch is carried through chapter 4 from beginning to end. Write an essay on the image of the stones slowly falling into the ocean. Pick out all the examples of this through the chapter and explain the meaning of this symbolic destruction and loss of history, stone by stone.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 878 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample