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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 news do Tom and his family discover in Chapter One?

2. Why does Tom begin writing letters to South Carolina?

3. Who is Winthrop Ogletree?

4. How does the Wingo family react to the last still born, Rose Ann?

5. What do we learn about Lila's father in Chapter Eleven?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Tom feel the fallow deer are out of place in the Central Park Zoo?

2. Why does Tom suggest that football is a good thing for the unhappy Bernard?

3. What does the story of Lila's quest to win the Colleton League cookbook contest reveal about her character?

4. What kind of family does the Prologue portray?

5. Who is the Prince of Tides?

6. What does the robbery that Luke witnesses in New York show us about the city?

7. How does the fury of the storm echo the plight of Lila Wingo?

8. How does Dr. Lowenstein perceive Lila in Chapter Six?

9. How does the phone call contrast with the idyllic opening of Chapter 1?

10. Why does Tom admit to hating both men and women equally?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the final image of the novel, we see the Wingo family (minus Luke) reunited on a shrimping boat, much as they were in the novel's opening. Do you think the Wingo family has overcome its traumatic past and finally begun to heal?

Write a persuasive essay that develops your point of view on this topic. Be sure to use specific and sound reasoning from the text to support your position.

Essay Topic 2

The essence of any drama, especially the Wingo family drama, is conflict. Choose ONE of the following characters and discuss the major conflicts and obstacles he or she seeks to overcome throughout the novel. Does he or she succeed? What is the prevailing conflict in his or her path to healing? How does the struggle and tension produced by this conflict change this character?

A.) Tom.

B.) Luke.

C.) Savannah.

D.) Lila.

E.) Susan.

F.) Henry.

Essay Topic 3

While the narrative of the Wingo family abounds with tragedy and conflict, Conroy does manage to interject select scenes to provide a sense of comic relief into the otherwise traumatic account.

Choose ONE scene from the novel that provides some measure of comic relief. Be sure your essay:

A.) Discusses the particular scene in detail for the reader.

B.) Analyzes how this scene provides a relief or contrast to the more serious and depressing elements of the Wingo history.

C.) Evaluates the role of this scene in the overall narrative. Why is it necessary in the story? How would the novel be affected without it?

(see the answer keys)

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