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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 isle's demise does Toby speak of in Chapter 10?

2. What is Ruth most proud of in the epilogue?

3. What is the weather like when Ruth is asked to wait at the dock in Chapter 7?

4. Who gives Ruth and Cal the horrible smelling item in Chapter 7?

5. According to Kitty, what is a breeze?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Ruth's relationship with Lanford conclude in the Epilogue?

2. What do Ruth and Owney do in Chapter 11?

3. Where do Ruth and Owney go in Chapter 11?

4. Why does Owney have hidden lobsters?

5. What strange news circulates about Lanford in Chapter 12?

6. What happens at the end of Chapter 11?

7. What does Rhonda and Mary hope for Ruth and her future?

8. How does Ruth feel about her sexual experience with Owney in Chapter 11?

9. What does Rhonda think of Mary?

10. How has Ruth's personal life changed by the Epilogue?

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 the lobster fishing culture on the islands. What information does Gilbert share with the reader about the world of lobster fishing?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the motif of family in the novel "Stern Men". Describe Ruth's relationship with her father and mother. Describe the Pommeroy and Ellis families.

(see the answer keys)

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