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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. Where did the Captain's experience described in Chapter 5 take place?

2. According to the narrator's quote, what does Darwin say about sea captains?

3. Why does the Captain believe he knows "the truth" about life after death?

4. What time of year does the story take place?

5. What does the narrator assert during the beginning of her conversation with Captain Littlepage in Chapter 5?

Short Essay Questions

1. Elijah Tilley's character provides a number of surprises for the narrator. What are they?

2. Describe the going-away gift Mrs. Todd leaves for the narrator and its meaning.

3. Describe the way that the narrator's decision to write at the schoolhouse affects her relationship with Mrs. Todd.

4. What is Mrs. Todd's reaction to the funeral?

5. Describe the contrast of changing moods that occurs on the journey to the Bowden family reunion.

6. Describe the connection Mrs. Todd draws between tansy and the human experience.

7. Chapter 21 opens with a narrative that focuses on nature. Describe this narrative and its significance to the situation.

8. How does Mrs. Todd characterize the man Joanna was going to marry?

9. What drastic measures does Joanna take when her engagement is broken off?

10. Describe the way the other guests treat Mrs. Blackett, and explain why you believe they act this way.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Drawing on what the reader learns from Mrs. Todd's conversation with the narrator in the pennyroyal patch on Green Island, describe the complexity of Mrs. Todd's relationship to her late husband.

Essay Topic 2

When first meeting Captain Littlepage at the beginning of Chapter 5, the narrator states: "...Mrs. Todd had told me one day that Captain Littlepage had overset his mind with too much reading; she had also made dark reference to his having 'spells' of some unexplainable nature." How did her conversation with him confirm or contradict this view? Support your claims with concrete examples from the book.

Essay Topic 3

Strength and vulnerability are two major themes of the novel. How is each characteristic illustrated within the novel, and how do they relate to each other?

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