View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Though David catches the fish, the narrator must

2. The narrator reveals that her parents have not forgiven her for

3. The narrator describes her job as

4. At the end of the chapter, the author compares an unborn child to

5. At the end of the chapter the narrator reveals the attitude that

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the dead heron represent for the narrator?

2. Why does the narrator refuse to believe David and Anna's story about her father?

3. Describe the picture the narrator has found as a "gift" from her mother.

4. Describe the narrator's relationship with her traveling companions.

5. What is the narrator's revelation about Christ?

6. In what way is Anna like "a burned leech?"

7. Describe the character of Paul.

8. How does the narrator seem to feel about returning to the town and her childhood home?

9. What change has occurred in the narrator's views on fishing and hunting?

10. What childhood memory interrupts the narrator's feeling of complicity in the heron's death?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Consider the ideas of paths, roads, and travels in Atwood's novel. What do these concrete ideas represent for the narrator, and how do they contribute to Atwood's message?

Essay Topic 2

Consider the following quote by Rainer Maria Rilke: "Just as language has no longer anything in common with the thing it names, so the movements of most of the people who live in cities have lost their connection with the earth; they hang, as it were, in the air, hover in all directions, and find no place where they can settle." Write an essay in which you defend, refute, or qualify Rilke's statement, using Atwood's novel as the basis for your argument.

Essay Topic 3

The narrator describes one part of herself as "missing." What other instances in the book suggest that something or someone is "missing," and what is significant about this term? Discuss the connotations of the word and a possible message Atwood might reveal through the concept of "missing" people, places, or things.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 983 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample