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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 does Oriel Lamb dream about in Chapter IX?

2. Into what room at Cloudstreet do Quick and Rose move in Chapter IX?

3. In what year is the Perth serial killer hung in Chapter X?

4. At a party in Chapter VIII, Toby Raven starts talking about a grotesque comedy he is working on, concerning a famous writer and what?

5. What season is it when Rose stops typing for Toby Raven in Chapter VIII?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What purpose does Rose’s relationship with Toby Raven serve in the narrative?

4. What bad things begin happening after Sam Pickles has foreseen bad luck in Chapter IX?

5. What does Quick dream of when he is knocked unconscious in Chapter VI?

6. What is indicated symbolically by the letter from Ted Pickles in Chapter VIII?

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

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

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

10. How does the author address the concept of faith through Oriel and Lester in Chapter X?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the characters of Lester and Oriel Lamb in the novel. How old are Lester and Oriel when the story begins? How many children do they have? How is their relationship characterized? In what ways are the Lambs similar and different than the Pickles family?

Essay Topic 2

What is the significance of the names in the novel? Why are “Quick” and “Fish” Lamb given these nicknames? What do you think the family name “Pickles” signifies? How are the characteristics of the Lamb and Pickles families represented by their names?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze and discuss Sam Pickles’s gambling addiction and its effects on the Pickles family. Why does Sam begin gambling again in the beginning of Chapter IV? What does he believe signifies the end of his bad luck? Are Sam’s premonitions about his luck generally correct or incorrect in the narrative?

(see the answer keys)

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