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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. Who owns the cabin in the woods that Lester takes Sam to in Chapter VII?

2. Who helps deliver Rose’s baby in Chapter IX?

3. Whom does Quick Lamb dream of rowing a wooden box when he is injured in Chapter VI?

4. Who spends all day in Kings Park in Chapter VII?

5. How does Fish Lamb die in Chapter X?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the character of Lucy Wentworth represent symbolically in the story?

2. What purpose does the appearance of the black man serve in Chapter IX?

3. Where does Quick Lamb work in the beginning if Chapter VI? How is he injured on the job in this chapter?

4. What is seen on the walls of the library at Cloudstreet in Chapter IX? What do these images represent?

5. How does the author’s structural development reflect his themes in Chapter IX?

6. What is significant about the wedding of Rose and Quick in Chapter VIII? How does this event relate to the story’s plot?

7. What does Rose Pickles initially find attractive about Toby Raven in Chapter VIII? How do her feelings change?

8. What is foreshadowed by the odd glow that surrounds Quick Lamb in Chapter VII?

9. What is represented symbolically by the naked children in the wheat in Chapter X?

10. What is represented symbolically by the black hitchhiker that Quick Lamb meets in Chapter VI?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 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

Analyze and discuss Quick’s reasons for leaving home in Chapter V. How have the changes in the family dynamic led to Quick’s decision to leave? Where has Lester Lamb been performing in Perth at this time? How does Quick feel about his father’s performances?

(see the answer keys)

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