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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 Cal whistle as the group drives to Ellis House?

2. What question does Simon often ask Ruth?

3. Where does Ruth go to live in Chapter 2?

4. Where does Cal make arrangements for Ruth to go at the beginning of Chapter 5?

5. What causes Ruth to cry at the end of Chapter 1?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Cal Cooley?

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

3. What does Ruth do after graduation?

4. Who dies in Chapter 1? How does this death impact the other characters?

5. What does Cal complain about when he finds Ruth in Chapter 5?

6. What nationalities have married one another to create a distinctive population on these islands?

7. Describe Ruth's birth.

8. Who is Ebbett Thomas?

9. What do Ruth, Cal and Toby talk about while on the New Hope in Chapter 5?

10. What do Simon and Webster look for at Potter Beach in Chapter 2 and why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

A theme of the novel is rich versus poor. Who represent the "rich" and who represents the "poor"? How do these two entities clash throughout the novel? How is Ruth caught between the two?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the secondary characters of the novel. Who are they and what are their roles in the novel? Describe their relationships with Ruth.

Essay Topic 3

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?

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