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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 Quick Lamb in the beginning of Chapter V?

2. Sam Pickles’s father is described in Chapter I as having passed along his love of what to his son?

3. Who comes looking for Quick Lamb when he rows the skiff upriver in Chapter IV?

4. What animal belonging to the Lamb family is said to talk in tongues in Chapter V?

5. What Australian coin-flipping game does Sam gamble on in Chapter IV?

Short Essay Questions

1. How are the characters of Lester and Oriel Lamb introduced in Chapter II? What is their family doing when they are introduced?

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

3. What are Rose Pickles’s perceptions of her parents, as seen in Chapter I of the novel?

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

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

6. What question is raised by Sam’s intuition about his luck changing in the beginning of Chapter IV?

7. Who moves into Cloudstreet after Quick Lamb has left home in Chapter V? How is this character introduced?

8. What theme is introduced through the character of Rose Pickles in the beginning of Chapter I?

9. How are fates of the Lamb and Pickles families compared to one another in Chapter II?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the narrative style of the novel. From whose perspective is the first section of the story related from? Is the narrative told from a past or present tense? What are the notable elements of the author’s narrative style? How does the narrative change throughout the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Describe and discuss the accident that injures Fish Lamb in Chapter II and the repercussions of this accident. How has Fish’s mental status changed from the accident? Why? Who feels to blame for the incident?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Oriel’s family history as revealed in Chapter III. What did Oriel do during World War I? Who died in that war that Oriel loved? How has Oriel’s past influenced her actions in the novel?

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