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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 the name of the department store where Rose Pickles begins working at as a switchboard operator in Chapter V?

2. Who becomes the chief baker and ice-cream maker at the store in Chapter III?

3. Oriel Lamb describes her father’s remarriage to whom in Chapter III?

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

5. What is the name of Sam Pickles’s father in the novel?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the luck of the Pickles family change at the end of Chapter IV?

2. How does the Lamb family perceive the concept of “luck,” as seen in the second half of Chapter III? What symbolizes this perception?

3. What events occur in January of 1951, according to the narrator in Chapter V?

4. How do Sam’s actions in Chapter III propel the plot of the narrative forward?

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

6. What is significant about the author’s depiction of the house on Cloud Street in Chapter III?

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

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

9. What is noteworthy about the narratives of Quick and Fish Lamb in Chapter IV?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the traditions, history, origins, and cultural relevance of Guy Fawkes Day and its celebration by the Lambs and Pickles in Chapter IV. Why does Fish Lamb become upset when the Guy Fawkes effigy is burned? What does his behavior symbolize?

Essay Topic 2

Describe and discuss the character of Dolly Pickles and her relationship with her husband Sam. How is Dolly’s appearance described in Chapter I? What clues in the text indicate dissatisfaction within Dolly regarding her marriage to Sam Pickles? How is Dolly’s relationship with her children characterized?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the character of Beryl Lee in the novel. Where does Oriel meet Beryl? Why does she invite Beryl to live at Cloudstreet? How does she fit in with the two families there? Why does Beryl leave Cloudstreet? Where does she go after leaving?

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