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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 old is Rose Pickles when she begins to get alarmingly thin in Chapter V?

2. Who does Quick Lamb take with him to row the skiff upriver in Chapter IV?

3. What is Fish Lamb’s real first name?

4. What does Quick Lamb begin clipping from the newspaper and hanging on his wall in Chapter IV?

5. In Joel’s will, it states that the house at One Cloud Street is left to Sam Pickles with what provision?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Oriel Lamb respond to the departure of Quick from Cloudstreet in Chapter V?

2. What is author Tim Winton’s focus in Chapter V? How does this chapter serve the novel?

3. What scene is depicted in the brief section prior to the opening of Chapter I?

4. What is revealed about the character of Oriel Lamb in the second half of Chapter III?

5. How would you characterize the language style of Cloudstreet?

6. What is foreshadowed through the character of the black man that appears in Chapter III?

7. What is foreshadowed by the central event that occurs in Chapter II of the novel?

8. qHow does the Lamb family perceive the concept of “fate” as seen in Chapter III?

9. What is symbolized by Fish’s fit during the celebration of Guy Fawkes Day in Chapter IV?

10. How are Quick Lamb and Rose Pickles described in the beginning of Chapter V? How old are they at this point?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the family history of Dolly Pickles in the novel. What secret does Dolly reveal to Rose about her mother? How has Dolly’s past influenced her actions in the story? Do you think that Dolly is an empathetic character? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Describe and discuss the setting of the novel. Where in Australia are the members of the Pickles family living in Chapter I? What clues in the text indicate the time period in which the story begins? How large do you envision the pub hotel where the Pickle family lives in this chapter? What is this region of Australia like?

Essay Topic 3

How is the theme of “luck” illustrated through the character of Sam Pickles? What are Sam’s feelings about the malleability of luck? How does Sam’s luck influence the events in the story? What symbolism supports this theme?

(see the answer keys)

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