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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. What is Jeremy Smith watching during the school lesson about brochs?

2. What song is Olafson singing right before he dies?

3. What is claimed and sealed for Scotland in 1314?

4. Who is Hieronymus?

5. Who doesn't show up for Madeline's wedding?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. When Thorfinn and his father are in the smithy, the men are talking politics. What point of view does MacTavish take?

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

4. When Jacob Olafson returns from his great adventure, what does he bring and what does he find?

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

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

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

8. Why does the author call the gathering at the Norday blacksmith shop "the village parliament?"

9. Why is the Battle of Bannockburn so important?

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

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 a detailed character study of Jacob Olafson. Why is he in the book? What does he represent in terms of Thorfinn's journey? What is he representative of in terms of the book and its overall theme?

Essay Topic 3

The style of writing a story within a story is somewhat unique. What does this literary device allow the author to reveal about his main character, Thorfinn? Why doesn't he simply write a book of imaginative stories? How is this double layer of reality different? How does it affect the reader?

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This section contains 910 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample