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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 is Kitty married to?

2. What is the weather like when Ruth is born?

3. What does Ruth like to do as a child?

4. Why do the islanders shun Ruth?

5. When was Ruth's grandmother adopted?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Mary? What does the reader learn of Mary's past in Chapter 4?

2. Why does Ruth flee to Rhonda's in Chapter 5? What is Rhonda doing when Ruth arrives?

3. Describe Ruth's birth.

4. How are the men on the islands described?

5. What happens in Chapter 4 when Ruth tells Stan and Angus about the money Lanford gave her?

6. Where and when is the novel "Stern Men" set?

7. Who is Ebbett Thomas?

8. What does Ruth think of Angus?

9. Describe Mary's wedding.

10. How does Simon try to help Rhonda in Chapter 1?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What marriages are examined in the novel? What causes the end of Stan's and Mary's marriage? How had the Ellis' felt about their marriage in the first place? Who had Rhonda wanted Ruth to marry and why?

Essay Topic 2

Describe Ruth's dreams and why she desires them. What is the connection between Ruth's dreams and ambitions and the setting of the novel? What obstacles might have prevented Ruth from achieving her dreams?

Essay Topic 3

What is the role of the woman on the islands? As a woman, what do Ruth's parents expect of her? How do Ruth's ambitions clash with the social expectations placed upon her?

(see the answer keys)

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